Evaluation 7- Ciara Egan (7056)

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Here is out preliminary task:

Here is our final product:

Planning:

Pre-Production:
In our preliminary task due to our limited time, we had to quickly think of an idea that involved a police interview set in a dark location. Although we wanted to use a drama classroom that had lighting equipment, this was in use so we decided to go behind the school stage in the main hall. 

For our thriller opening we completed a series of blog posts and tasks as apart of the pre production stage. These included 9 frame analysis and rule of thirds research. We then went on to thinking of individual ideas for a thriller opening that is also embedded in our blog and as a group we decided to chose Lauren's idea that we then had to present to the class which is shown below.

After hearing our first piece of audience feedback from our peers, we went on to adapt our idea and created our animatic storyboard which allowed us to make our ideas more of a reality. Once our rough idea was in place we went on to embed further research into our blog that included locations, soundtracks and a filming timetable. 
This thorough pre-production and planning stage ultimately made our production process run a lot smoother as we knew what were were doing on what specific day as well as knowing more information about professional Hollywood thrillers out there. 

Production:
In our preliminary task we spent a lot of time trying to use the equipment properly as it was the fist time using it. This resulted in us missing out on filming time. As well as this, we struggled with the lighting in our location making it difficult to get good footage.

However for our production stage of our thriller opening we had a lot of practice with the cameras beforehand meaning no filming time was wasted. In addition to this we were also given a lot more equipment such as lighting and a microphone that we were able to practice with and embed into our blog; making us a lot more comfortable and confident with the equipment. The microphone proved to be very useful when recording as it picked up a lot more sound than the camera alone; especially when it was on the enhanced mode. However we did not need to use the lighting as we opted for naturalistic lighting and then adjusted it in the post-production stage.   

Post production:
In out preliminary task we were were pushed for time on editing meaning we were restricted to what we could do with our footage. 
Whereas for our thriller opening we were given a lot more time and were a lot more used to using Final Cut Pro meaning we could edit continuity aspects such as match on action much smoother allowing real events to appear as if they were happening in real time; creating a sense of verisimilitude. Below i have inserted clips to show this. 

Due to there only being one protagonist at a time on screen in our thriller opening we did not demonstrate the '360 degree rule' or 'shot reverse shot'.

In terms of editing there is also a clear difference in our credits. Our preliminary tasks credits are against a black background and appear in an armature font and transition. However from research we found that a black background was not typically used in thriller openings and more simplistic fonts and transitions are usually used so we incorporated this into our thriller opening which is demonstrated below. 

                                               

                                                                               

To Conclude:

Overall i feel like our final product of our thriller opening fulfils the task as through planning we were able to create a sense of verisimilitude in our production and post production stage giving us a professional finish to our final product. 

Evaluation 6 - Ciara Egan GROUP POST

Evaluation Activity 5- Ciara Egan (7056) group post

How did you attract/address your audience? (GROUP)


Marketing and advertising is how companies generally attract an audience. Examples of this include, posters on buses, adshells, social media accounts, merchandise, trailers and more! Budget plays a huge role in creating an effective marketing campaign to attract an audience. For example, companies which are transnational have the ability to make bigger, more interesting campaigns attracting a bigger and wider audience. An example of this type of company would be Walt Disney as if you were to take a trip to your local shopping centre you would find some sort of Disney merchandise, accessories and even the actual Disney store.

Our target audience:

"Unmasked" is a certificate 15. We decided that our target audience would be for men and women from the age of 15 - 24 years old. We found that this was an appropriate audiecne as they have the most leisure time, and consequently we would be able to make more of a profit.

What aspects of our opening would appeal to our target audience?

- The upbeat music, as it is something we would listen to as 16 and 17 year olds.
- Our protagonist is of a similar age to  our target audience, hence they would be able to possibly relate to her.

Aspects such as the upbeat music, may not appeal to an older audience, as it is quite a young, upbeat track. The body language and make up of our protagonist may also not appeal to an older audience, this is because our protagonist may come across as quite self obsessed/insecure of her image and so spends a lot of time getting ready. This could be because of the increasing pressure on young people to look a certain way, a subject which an older generation may not have such knowledge about. However the storyline may be appealing to an older audience because, it is about a girl loosing her father and the pyschological effects and journey it takes her on, it is a relatable storyline so our storyline may attract a wider audience.


The audience will be drawn into our film by the eerie, mysterious music which helps to build the tension. The audience will also be drawn in by our blurred shot of the protagonist's father' shands, this is because the blurr is likely to create a sense of curiousity from the audience. Another scene which would draw the audience in is when hand-held camera effect in the woods as it builds suspense.

Conventions included in our thriller opening:

- A protagonist
-Supsenseful music
-Cliffhangers
-Montage of shots
-Diegetic sound

In "Unmasked" the audience are asked to relate to the protagonist as that is the only character, they properly see. They also witness a scene in which the protagonist is extremely distraught, triggering a sense of sympathy and empathy from the audience due to the death of her father, although this is not obviously revealed but rather subtly hinted as we wanted to keep that sense of msytery as it would not be possible to reveal everything in the opening.

We collected our audience feedback from two 18 year old boys, a 17 year old boy and a 19 year old woman as well as our peers, and teachers. In our film opening, our audience found our music most effective in setting a mysterious atmosphere. Our audience also enjoyed the acting as it made them feel emersed in the action and they believed what they were watching, They also found the reference to the dates helpful in understanding what was happening on the screen. They also enjoyed our continuity editing as it created a sense of verisimilitude.

MARKETING CAMPAIGN:

Social Media:

As our target audience is for 15-24 year old men and women. For most of our target audience, social media is a part of everyday life. . From our research we also found that 94% of British teenagers use at least one form of social media, making a social media campaign most successful for our film.

Evaluation activity We would use our various social media pages to post updates and news on our film as well as release dates and reviews. We would also post cast interviews, bloopers as footage allowing our audience to have access to as much content relating to our film as possible. We would also have public profiles, allowing a wider audience to be aware of our film. Below is an example of our twitter page that we especially decided to focus on as we found our target audience use this a lot in comparison to other social media platforms like Facebook.

Our Twitter Page

Posters:

We also designed two posters that are shown below. These can be used on adshells, busses, handed out to the public and also shown and shared on social media. Below we have annotated them as to why they help attract out target audience and the decisions we took in relation to images, colour and text.

Evaluation 4- Ciara Egan (7056)

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


From our research we discovered that the best age certificate for our thriller would be a 15.

By making our thriller a 15 it means that only those ages 15 or older can watch the film in a cinema or purchase the film. In Films that are age rated a 15 you are likely to expect like strong violence, strong language, drug taking and sexual nudity/sexual activity.

Although our opening of our film does not include this, it is likely to be revealed later on in the film as the main protagonist is tormented by the murder of her farther.

Audience research
From our Audience research we were able to find the top 10 thrillers of all time and from further research I gathered, I found that:
3/10 thrillers were a 12a.
2/10 thrillers were a 15
5/10 thrillers were an 18 

Top Thriller films of all time:(imdb)

1. The sixth sense

2. The dark knight rises

3.  Inception

4.  psyco

5.  The departed

6.  Shutter Island

7.  se7en

8.  The Usual suspects

9.  The silence of the lambs

10. Snatch 

Due to the most successful thrillers being a variety of age ratings, 5 of which were rated a 15 and under we decided to make our thriller a 15; especially as 'Shutter Island' (Scorsese, 2010) is a 15 and our opening is similar in the sense that they both have a variety of clips at the beginning foreshadowing what may come up in the film.  As well as this research shows that teenagers and young adults tend to have the most leisure money and time to spend which will hopefully increase the profit made.

Our Survey monkey
From Our Survey monkey research we were also able to find that everyone who answered our survey was between the age range of 16-18; also supporting the fact that this age range has the most leisure time to be the consumers of films and they had taken their time to complete the questionnaire. As well as this a 15 age rating would be the most suitable choice as it means that all those who filled out our questionnaire and those older are able to watch our thriller. 
If we were to chose a lower age rating we would not gain a larger audience and if we were to change our age rating to an 18 we would have no audience.

Audience Profiles:
Our Audience profiles allowed us to figure out the interests of possible consumers as well as their clothing and music preferences to see if can incorporate it into our thriller to make it more relevant for our age range. Below I have added our specific target market audience profiles of both male and female teenagers.  

Audience feedback:

As a group we also interviewed another possible consumer (Felicity, 20) to gather some feedback about our thriller opening whilst we were still in the post-production process. This allowed us to see where we could improve and make adjustments before finalising our product as well as getting the views of a potential consumer in out target audience ranging from 15-24. 

As further research I also interviewed Luke Young, aged 16 who also conforms to our target audience to find out his thoughts on our final thriller opening. This allowed us to get some feedback on our final product and see views our thriller opening in the same light as a professional Hollywood blockbuster.  

Evaluation 3- Ciara Egan (7056)

Evaluation 2- Ciara Egan (7056)

Evaluation 1- Ciara Egan (7056)

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

Here are my 9 frames from our thriller opening:

Frame one:

Frame one is the establishing shot where the scene of the murder is instantly revealed. This close up, establishing shot reveals a mans hand covered in blood; foreshadowing that the film is based around a murder. 

Coinciding with this, the date of the murder appears in a typewriting font. The positioning of the text '14.02.17' is in the center of the screen suggesting that it is crucial towards the rest of the film opening. The date can also indicate that other parts of the film is set at a different time. The typewriting font of the date can be linked to an investigation suggesting that the film will be about the murder and what is revealed.

In terms of mise-end-scene the lighting is dim suggesting that this is a dark time; it also sets the dark and sinister tone for our opening. For props, the man also has a watch on indicating that it is a grown man that had dies and not a child.      





Frame two:
This is a medium close up of the perpetrator running away. For  this shot we decided to focus on the perpetrator's feet to emphasis that he's running away from the scene. This shot adds to the overall plot of our thriller indicating that they have murdered the person in the scene before.

The credit is in the bottom third left corner of the screen to ensure the emphasis is on the action. The font is the same as the date above, however it fades on and off of the screen to create a sense of mystery and represent the loss of the victim. All of the credits throughout our opening are in the same format, font and motion.

The lighting is similar to that in the first frame, conforming to the conventions of a thriller as it helps set a sinister tone; for this we used a filter on 'final cut pro'. For the perpetrator's clothing we decided to use boots and baggy jeans to indicate that that the perpetrator is a man 

Frame three:
Frame three is a long shot of the perpetrator running away. This may challenge certain thriller conventions as we see the escape of the murder from a first person perspective. We achieved this my not using a tripod, but instead using a hand held camera technique of Hannah running with the camera. 

In terms of lighting we used naturalistic lighting as it was a sunny day. This contrasted well with darkness provided by the shady trees allowing the light to shine through creasing a sinister tone. 

Frame Four:

This frame is a long shot of a photo frame with the victim's family (and the main protagonist) pictured inside it. The shot zooms in on the photo which we slowed down on final cut pro to show more focus on the family.

In terms of lighting, due to the time of day we filmed this shot the sun is setting which can be sen through the shutters on the window. This lighting of the sun going down can represent the loss of the farther in the photo.

The title of the film appears a in the centre of the scene in a white typewrite font that fades in and out similar to our credits. This conforms to the typical conventions of a thriller as it is similar to the opening title of 'Gone Girl' (Flynn, 2014); another thriller that creates mystery.

Frame five:
Frame five is a close up of the photo. This is a slow motion zoom in on the photo to symbolise its importance and the importance of family; specifically to the main protagonist. The shot looses focus as it gets closer blurring out the family's faces showing a lack of emotion and the loss of the farther. As well as this the lack of focus and disorientation also shows how the family will never be together again.

The colour of the frame also conforms to thriller conventions as the photo is in black and white and the lighting coming through the shutter is also mainly cool tones resulting in dullness creating a sinister tone.

Frame Six:

Frame six is a medium close up of the protagonist reflected in the mirror. This shot shows the protagonist at her weakest and most vulnerable. The shot loses focus in the mirror showing how the protagonist views herself as disorientated and confused.

The naturalistic lighting originally created an upbeat tone which we didn't want for our thriller and in particular this scene so we added a filter on final cut pro to make the scene seem more dull and eerie, similar to other thrillers like gone girl, which conforms to typical thriller conventions.   



Frame seven:
Frame seven is another mirror extreme close up; however the refection of the protragonist in the mirror is more of a medium shot. 

This scene marks the end of the credits and the beginning of the action in the film which does not necessarily conform to the typical conventions of a thriller die to the brighter lighting and the upbeat music used at this point. However this is a flashback as the date in the frame shows which we later changed to 'The Day Before...'  to make it clearer for our audience however, typical thriller conventions are shown later.

Frame eight:
This is a medium long shot of the protagonist leaving the bedroom after getting ready. The shot homes in on a sign on the wall saying 'you light up my life'. This sign suggests that the mans hand seen in frame one is the person that lights up the protagonists life. This is later revealed in frame nine that is is the protagonists 'dad'.

The lighting is once again bright showing that this is a positive time in the protagonists life. This scene leads on to 'match on action' conforming to continuity editing creating a sense of verisimilitude for the audience and making them believe they are watching real events in real time.



Frame nine:
Frame nine shows a mid shot of the protagonist leaving the house. Naturalistic lighting is shown as the door is opened which contrasts with the dim lighting inside the house foreshadowing that something dark and sinister may happen; conforming to typical conventions of a thriller.

In terms of non dietetic sound, the busy world outside is also revealed as the door is opened contrasting with the tranquillity and safety of the home. The first part of dialogue in the film is also revealed, consisting of 'bye dad, love you', foreshadowing that something may happen to the protagonists dad as she is saying 'bye'.