Ripper Evaluation

By Dominique Shiells Edwards

By Dominique Shiells Edwards
 Storyline
Our film takes place in 1888, when Jack the Ripper murdered at least five
women although the count are as high as eleven. In our film we are re-telling the
story of the Jack the Ripper, the film shows Jack the Ripper stalking his victims,
who were prostitutes and he murdered them. Most of the victims throats were slit,
after which the bodies were mutilated, the injuries will be implied in the opening.
Jack the Ripper was never found so we had to use different resources like the
internet, comic books, documentaries and other films to imagine an idea of what
Jack the Ripper would look like.

Our opening has an establishing shot showing the audience the location and a
woman is shown standing outside a door she ‘fixing’ her top to show the audience
that she has just finished her ‘job’, this is a generalisation of Jack the Rippers
victims as most of them were prostitutes. The audience see Jack the Ripper
following the victim, Jack the Ripper then captures the victim after he murders
and rapes her. This was thought to have happened however the assault and rape is
implied. Then the audience sees Jack the Ripper walking away from the murder
scene and him targeting a next women. This leads to the rest of the movie where
Jack the Ripper continues to stalk and murder women.
 In what ways does your media product use
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products
• Our film Ripper uses forms and conventions of real media products as we ensured that
the audience would recognise our film as a thriller/horror. The slow pace beginning
makes the film more intense and dramatic, the use of the villain stalking the victim late at
night peoples as it uses peoples fears of walking home alone in the dark as people feel
paranoid. This reflects our genre of thriller/horror as the film explores peoples fears.
• We developed forms and conventions in our media product as we used Claude-Levis-
Strauss’ theory of binary opposition as our film had a killer who was a villain and a
victim who the audience could engage themselves with. However, in our film we tried
to keep Jack the Rippers identity secret for it to be reviled at the end of the film. Also,
we gained inspiration from the movie From Hell as the story is based on Jack the
Ripper as well so we used some techniques and camera angles that we liked.
• We challenged the forms and conventions in our film as the rape and murder of the
victim is implied which is different to usual horror films (e.g. Saw, From Hell). This is
because rape scenes are very controversial and we would have to make our age
certificate higher. Also, we challenge the Horror genre as the victim is a prostitute which
is a ‘negative job’ which looses the victims innocence and vulnerability. However, I
think this makes the opening more gripping and the audience will want to continue to
watch the rest of the movie.
How does your media product present
particular social group?
The villain in this film is a Male which represent the 1800’s
Villain ideas that men were more powerful than women. We tried
to hide Jack the Rippers face as best we could, to keep his
identity secret and create danger and mystery around him.
Jack the Ripper carried a knife with him and using
Ferdinand de Saussures theory of signifiers and signified we
wanted the audience to know that the victims will die as
some of the murders are implied. The villain is a tall dark
figure which creates mystery.

The victim is seen as vulnerable as she is a women set in

Victim the 1800’s which makes her inferior compared to men. The
victim is seen as fragile and innocent even though her job is
a prostitute which both contrasts. The villain is taller than
her this makes her seem inferior and like an easy target. The
victim walks out of the house with a straight back which
portrays her as powerful, proud and oblivious that she is
being followed. Which makes the victim to be seen as seem
vulnerable, for the audience to feel scared and empathy
towards the victim.
Who would your audience be and why?
After researching the age guidelines specifications we have decided
that our film should be categorized as a 15, as our film contains
language, violence and sexual assault.

Our target audience would be teenagers and adults as

our film is a thriller/horror which contains gruesome
scenes. The interest in Jack the Ripper would attract
many audiences as the he is still well known today.

The British Board of Film Classification would be

more likely to rate our film as a 15 due to language
and violent natured scenes. Even though the violence
and rape is implied, by the use of the props the
audience will know that the assault happened,
however in an 18 film the violence would be shown.
How did you attract and address your
audience?
Our film tried to have a storyline which an audience would expect from a
horror/thriller film. We included blood and some gore, vulnerable victims
and powerful villains, mass murder and a dramatic and intense
atmosphere , this makes the audience fearful and feel empathy towards
the victim. The stalking of the victim is typical in a thriller as it plays on
peoples fears and paranoia, especially women.
We kept the villains identity hidden to make him seem mysterious.
Though we have close up shots of his eyes to add danger. Mystery is also
shown by the title as ‘Ripper’ could represent the victims being ripped .
Thriller/Horror fans would be impressed that the film is set in 1888, as
we wanted to re-tell the story of Jack the Ripper. The setting would shot
the time period would gain interest.
We decided not to use dialogue as it would take away the audiences
attention to our film, the music shows the time period as horse shoe
sounds are used portrays shows the time. The use of music works better
for our film and genre.
The wide shots and slow editing increases worry for the audience and
makes the opening more dramatic. Low key lighting gives the audience
and the opening a sense of unease and worry which represents the
victims feeling of paranoia.
What kind of media institutions might
distribute your film and why?
After researching different production companies such as, Lions
Gate, Twisted Pictures, Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films. I
think that our film would best suit Paramount Vantage as it
distributes films such as There Will Blood which is a thriller/horror
film and The Eye which is a thriller/horror film. The average for
Paramount Vantages age restriction is 15 such as Babel which is a
15 as there are scenes of sexual nature, blood and language.

Our film would be out in successful cinemas in the

United Kingdom and United States of America e.g.
Cineworld and Odeon with the age restriction of 15.
After the release in cinemas the film would be
available on DVD, Blu-ray disc and HD DVD rated
at 15 as there will be extras which will show deleted
scenes such as the rape scene and the story of Jack
the Ripper, which may appeal to older audiences. The
film would be distributed in stores such as WHSmith
and HMV, though it will be sold on websites like
Play.com and Amazon.com.
What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing your film?
From the construction of our film we have learnt how to use a
digital camera, to create different angles and how to work the
different functions of the digital camera like, night mode. We
have learnt to use a tripod to create a steady and professional
look in the film. Also, when trying to create a mood in the film
maybe a tripod is not necessary e.g. When creating the mood of
chaos the camera would be hand-held making the camera shaky.
In our group we filmed twice as in our first draft we did not stick
to the 180 degree rule and in some wide shots the audience could
see the tripod in the background, this effectively made our film
look amateur. Though, when we re-filmed we discovered how to
use the camera effectively and the use of night mode helped as
when we filmed before we used torches to create light. Our
advance in knowledge made out film look better and
professional.
During editing we learnt how to use Imovie were we could
lengthen or shorten shots, create credits, apply credits, add
transitions like picture in picture and fade, add different effects
such as Sci-Fi and cartoon and to edit out mistakes. We attended
CLC sessions were we leant how to use Garageband we learnt
how to create music, add sound effects such as screams and how
Looking back at your preliminary exercise,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to your film?
The Preliminary task was really helpful to me as I found out many things
that I did not know or realise about filming during that time, during our
preliminary I learnt about the basics of continuity editing and making sure
that we filmed a number of different angles to show facial expression. Also,
I learnt that the camera should always be prepared for the next shot as
during our Preliminary the top of Emilys head was cut of in the shot when
she was walking. Through editing our preliminary task I learnt about
transitions and making each shot flow to make it seem seamless.
T Though watching ours and other peoples Preliminary task I learnt that the
positioning of the characters should always remain the same as when we
filmed Michaela's close up, her head is resting on her hand with her knuckle
inward, but when we change to the two shot her head is resting on the palm
of her hand. I have defiantly learnt that we need to keep the Mise-en-Scene
and the positioning of each person the same throughout each shot. Also, I
learnt that it was necessary to film extra footage to have a range of shots.
From filming our opening I learnt that lighting is very important as when
we first filmed we used torches which created a low quality to our film.
Though when re-filming we used night mode and we made some shots
brighter using Imovie.