Evaluation Questions

Our media product is a short clip of three minutes to an opening of a thriller. The storyline is based on
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop
a woman being captured by a mystery villain and locked in a basement. This specific choice of storyline
builds up anxiety and suspense adding to the horror theme. Martin Rubin points out that a Thriller
should be categorised as a ‘metagenre’. It is considered one of the most broadest genres in film as it
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
can have many sub-genres coming from it, such as crime, action adventure, mystery etc.
Due to thrillers being broad, it is the most difficult to identify, however, there are elements within it
that an audience will expect to see. These include, a sense of unease, danger, tension and anxiety. If a
thriller is successful it should keep the audience on the edge of their seats. This is usually achieved by
the particular use of both diegetic and non-diegetic music, camera shots and angels.
Before we began filming we all researched a number of thriller films, this was in order for us to learn
the conventions that are needed to create a successful thriller film, we did this both as a group and
independently. We focused on their story lines and openings, comparing them and looking for
similarities. The two main films we analysed were “Memento” and “Silence of the lambs”. After having
watched the openings to these thrillers we began noticing the similar aspects between them, we also
noted what the evident conventions that occurred in them, some of these where; narrative enigmas,
suspense, mystery, eerie music and a sense of uncertainty. These allow the audience to be drawn into
the film and feel a part of the characters experience. Another thing that really helps create a thriller, is
when the audience knows just as much as the character, really putting them in the same position. We
too tried to perceive these aspects in our own opening, leaving the audience in the dark as well as the
characters.

Although the films have completely different storylines they both use narrative enigmas in the same
way to keep the audiences attention. As well as both creating an air of suspense and mystery. We used
non-diegtic music, it has an eerie quality and fits into the background perfectly, this adds to the
tension of feelings amongst the audience watching and makes them feel on edge. At some points we
erased the idea of music and used the technique of silence which added to the uncomfortable, dreary
atmosphere, we felt that this helped with the mystery and suspense you would usually achieve in a
genuine thriller
On the. Right
Throughout
: The two the filming process we decided to use two locations, this was because the
house we wasfilmsusing
we hadthat had a basement didn’t look as scary from the front so we decided to use a
inspiration
different house for that
from ‘Memento’- with specific scene.
Both the chosen locations
the women waking uphad a weird, creepy feel to them, which definitely fitted our thriller storyline
and broughtinthe edgy and
an unknown hostile feel we needed. The basement (house 1)
placeand was dark, cold and
very mysterious;
‘SilenceitOfreally
the helped guide us along the way, adding a great deal to the storyline and
creating this horror-like
Lambs’-with the feel we aimed to achieve.
idea of
a serial killer targeting
When filming the basement scene, we shot from various high angled points, helping to create a feeling
young women.
of claustrophobia for the audience, therefore putting them in the same position as the actors.
 1. Continued

For the front house scene (house 2) we filmed an establishing shot of the old looking Tudor
house, which told the audience where the action was happening before it actually did. Overall,
we were entirely happy with our location choice as it has all the main elements of a thriller.
We decided to keep the amount of characters very simple, the villain and the victim. I felt that
this was a good choice because it helped express the seriousness of the situation by having
minimal actor’s showing a smaller chance of a heroic ending, this leaving the audience
questions, what's going to happen next?. All the scenes involving the villain where shot from
behind, we felt it would be better to keep the characters face anonymous creating a real tense
atmosphere and leaving the villain rather intimidating.
We used make-up on our actresses to help add to the realism and also create the illusion of
bruises and scratches to show the horror and pain in which our victim had gone through. Also,
the use of blood expresses the pain and danger experienced.
We then began discussing what to call our project, we looked back to the thrillers we analysed.
“Memento” was a one worded title we thought this had an impact on the audience, because its
fast and striking. It also helps the audience to think more in depth about what they are about
to watch and the main point is that it also links to the storyline, another aspect I feel makes a
good thriller is when everything pieces together at the end, its like a task, trying to work out
what's happening and at the end you see if you have achieved this. This keeps the audience
busy and into the film, and pretty much ensuring they are going to watch it till the end.
We finally decided to name our product “number 24”. We chose a short title which had

<- Anna’s being tied up and prepared in the

basement by Elena A.

Me putting make up on Anna to create a realistic

feel for both her and the audience. ->
 2. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?

I would say that our media product is represented to attract specific target groups. The main
character is a young, teenage girl, she walks along the sidewalk alone. She is seen to be
nervous and fearful, the audience can immediately pick up this emotion. Some teenagers
watching this can relate to this specific character and what she may be feeling and why.
Her costume is a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt giving her a casual everyday look, this
shows she is not of a high class. This will help our teenage audience relate to her character
as she seems to be an average teenage girl. There is not a lot of dialogue at all, so an accent
couldn’t be recognised, which will not single her out either. We did however represent the
North London area as one which is associated with violence, I say this because you are less
likely to find this sort of violence in other areas such as the city.
However, in terms of the ethnicity, race and sexuality aspect we decided not to add any
emphasis on these aspects as they are not the main subjects of the film. The film is shot
from the perspective of the audience watching, as if they are following the characters which
really gets the audience involved.

In our product, we chose the traditional stereotype of a victim and villain, victim being a
female and the villain being male.
This was also the case in “Silence of the lambs” the character Clarice is the victim and is in
danger. I felt that with the careful choice of a female victim, gives the audience a much
higher perception of her vulnerability. We used an older male for the villain in order to
achieve the great sense of intimidation and power towards the young teenage victim, I felt

<- Anna simply wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

2. Continued

With the choice of our main character being a teenage girl, the audience will be able to relate to her
vulnerability in an unknown situation. Many teenagers find themselves in situations they are not particularly
familiar with, and come sometimes feel trapped and alone like our character does in the basement scene.

Our film represents this vulnerable teenage girl with the point of view of the camera, its as if it is following
her. With the use of these camera skills it shows the audience her journey from her perspective, this allows
the audience to feel as thought they are with her in her position. By following the character this way, instead
of straight angles from above for example, it will make the audience feel as though the have a relationship
with the character, hence being able to relate to her circumstance.

<- Me and Natalie M,

following Anna, from a
lower point of view ->
 3. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?

<- The company I feel that would best to

support the budget of our project.

As my Media product is a low budgeted film I need to take into consideration certain
factors in order to market it effectively.
I have to think sensibly and think about whether these distributors will be the right ones
for our horror themed product.

I have decided to go for metrodome distribution, which is a small independent London based
distribution company to distribute our coursework piece. I have also chosen The Microwave
film Project to financially support our film alongside metrodome. I feel that this decision
will definitely be beneficial towards the successful production of our project.

Recent films such as Eran Creevy’s Shifty, have been acquired by Metrodome for UK, Eire
and Eastern Europe distribution. While Steven Sheil’s contemporary horror Mum & Dad,
which was co-financed by EM Media, has been picked up by Revolver Entertainment for
UK, Eire and North American distribution. These where distributed by Metrodome and
financially supported by Microwave.
The success of these first two features is a fantastic boost for Microwave, a unique and
groundbreaking initiative launched by Film London in 2006. From the outset the aim of
the scheme has been to make micro-budget feature films which combine creative scripts
and talent with an entrepreneurial approach to produce a commercially viable product.
Microwave challenges film-makers to shoot a full-length feature film for a budget not
exceeding £100,000 including all cash and in-kind support. Film London can offer up to
3. Continued

The first two greenlit features were ‘Mum & Dad’ and ‘Shifty’:

-Mum & Dad: Writer/Director Steven Sheil’s intense horror film, produced by Lisa Trnovski, is set around
London’s Heathrow Airport. A murderous and perverse family life at the end of the runway, right under the roar
of he flight path. The special thing bout this film was that it was released in the cinemas, on dvd and also
available for download all on the same day.
-Shifty: Written and directed by Eran Creevy and produced by Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh. Riz Ahmed (Britz,
Road to Guantanamo) takes the title role of Shifty, a thriller charting on action packed 24 hours in the life of a
young crack cocaine dealer on the outskirts of London.
-Shifty was distributed by metrodome distribution.

The microwave Film Project allows films of a small scale, to have the opportunity to be shown in cinemas. I
would say our film has the potential to be shown in big multiplex cinemas where it will get a larger audience,
however, If they was to not give us the budget of our film, it would get shown in smaller localised cinemas
which have a much smaller scale audience.

<- ‘Shifty’

‘Mum & Dad’ ->

 4. Who would be the audience for your media
Inproduct?
order for a product to reach its highest potential there are a few things that
need to be ensured, every product produced is aimed at a specific target
audience, this is done in order to achieve a successful product and making sure
its based on the interests and likes of the individuals at which it is aimed.
As a group we created a questionnaire in order for us to research what
audiences want from a thriller. We sent out 19 Questionnaires, 11 went to
females and 8 to males.
We asked them what they expected from a thriller and the most common
answers that arose were:

-Scary moments
-Elements of the unexpected/ unknown
-Convincing props such as Fake blood/knives etc.
Our use of Fake blood to
We also asked what appeals most when they watch a thriller. The most common
ad d to the realism. ^
answers from this were
-The storyline
-Suspense
-Elements of surprise
-Realistic Locations

<- some thrillers that

where mentioned.
4. Continued

After looking at our questionnaire results, we decided to aim our Thriller at

people of both genders ageing from about 15+. Taking into account all of
the aspects of our product, for example, its thriller theme there are
particular groups we have aimed our film towards. Our products target
audience are people who enjoy frequent trips to the cinema and often enjoy
thrillers.
I feel this to be the most popular age group to enjoy thrillers, and as a result
watching our product also. This age is also at an advantage because the
characters in the thriller are also teenagers so therefore this age group are
most likely to be drawn in, relating it back to themselves and their own
experiences.

The reason for the target age to begin at the minimum of 15 years old is due
to the fact that it may be unsuitable for anyone younger. It is based on a
thriller storyline and it therefore contains thriller elements that anyone
younger could find uncomfortable to view.
Some other films that have the certificate of either 15 or 18 are: Psycho(15),
The Usual Suspects (18), The silence of the lambs (18), and Memento (15).
I researched the Thrillers which are currently in the cinemas now; a few of

<- The British Board of Film Classification is an

independent organisation that exists to
regulate and classify the content of films
shown in cinemas and released on video.
It does this by awarding a classification
certificate based on what it considers to be
appropriate age limits for the film in question -
and, if deemed necessary, by requesting that
the film's distributor make changes to the film,
usually in the form of cuts.
 5. How did you attract/address
your audience?
In order for us to be able to attract an audience we had to use specific requirements
that would overall make our product a real success.

Starting with the short title, “Number 24” this was mainly created to draw in
audiences. It works along with the storyline not only linking the name to the plot but
also leaving the audience questioning what significance the title has in the film and
therefore persuading them to watch it to find out.
During our editing stage we decided to use a few transition techniques.

The storyline was the main attraction, its persuadable, grabbing peoples attention
and creating a real curiosity. The story was based on the life of a young woman being
captured by an unknown suspect, to wake up and find herself trapped and tied up in
the basement of a mysterious location. Our storyline is full of narrative enigmas,
such as Where did she find the address to this house?, Who is the mystery villain?,
What does he/she want?, whose blood is it? And so on, these narrative enigmas help
to draw In audiences and keep them interested, to find out the answers of what may
happen to the characters and why. We were influenced to use narrative enigmas by
the film ‘Memento’ which is full of them. We also agreed that it reached the standard
of other well known horror films. Although we also used other elements.
We have tried to keep the conventions in our film clear so the audience can identify
then and the film will fit precisely into the category of ‘Thrillers’. A convention we
attempted to control was the lighting. We tried to keep the dark and dreary feeling.
We also tried to include an establishing shot, which would give the audience a slight
 5. Continued
During the editing stage, we tried to keep transactions simple and effective,
We felt that the use of a black fade out during a few scenes, added to the
amount of suspense created which many thriller films use in between scenes
for the similar reason.
Another thing we used to attract the audience was the specific choice of music.
At the beginning of the film we chose a spooky, eerie track to set the mood.
This added to the threatening actions and feelings the audience prepares for
before a horror film. We also found in our questionnaire that this sense of not
knowing things that are going to happen, really create suspense and add to
the thriller experience. We tried to keep our sound affects realistic and not too
bold- keeping them in the background rather then main attraction.

If we had the opportunity to release the film we would use a number of

different promotional methods to draw in as many people as possible. The
main methods would include: advertisement on the Internet on socialising
websites such as Facebook or MySpace (which is used by many 15-20 year
olds) , Television commercials, advertisement on busses, billboards and in
magazines. These methods would work successfully in attracting the target
audiences age of 15-20.

<- The character (the Joker)

A mimicked costume of the

character->
 6. What have you learnt about technologies
from the process of constructing the product?

I was completely unaware of how difficult filming and editing the product would be, and
the type of common problems that could arise pre and post the production.
However, the outcome of our product was also better than I had expected.

During the filming process I learned that things don’t always go to plan. On two occasions
we had to re-schedule filming, on the first incident there was a problem due to the
lighting. This was because we didn't plan what we was going to do properly which caused
confusion and conflict, by the time we had overcome these problems it had become too
dark to film, resulting in the shots being extremely dark and blurred.

We couldn’t get anything from the shots so decided to re-schedule but this time around
learning from our previous mistakes. The problem on the second time round, was a
technical issue involving the camera not being fully charged, yet again we had to re-
schedule and re-shoot the same scene.
The majority of the shots where in the basement scene, this was a small confined area
which had very little room for our whole group to stand, we took it in turns to film
different shots using our surroundings to our advantage. We accomplished many shots
from all different angles both high and low. This was to our advantage because when it

Elena A (left) and

Thegla (right) during
the filming process
 6. Continued

We also encountered a minor problem when the camera battery wasn’t fully
charged so we couldn’t complete our filming day, it had already got too dark
and we where left to reschedule.
I also found that certain thing on the camera such as the zoom function, don’t
always work well, and it didn’t look as good as we hoped it would.

We attempted to use a microphone during the basement scene in order to

create a realistic feel, with the characters heavy breathing. However, the
microphone we had did not work as well as planned so we had to make sure
the sound taken in by the camera worked well and was effective.
I definitely felt I learnt a lot through the editing stage, I learnt how to upload
the film from the camera onto the computer and how to edit it successfully,
adding the music and titles.
However, a few of the problems we encountered were not due to the
technology side but more so due to the weather. We overcame these problems
by having to reschedule filming on some days and on others we had to
improvise by holding a sheet over the window to block out some of the light.
Overall, the most important skill I have learnt and greatly improved on is my
camera skills, from being somebody who had never filmed or edited before, to
being involved in the filming and editing of our media coursework, feels like a

<- us dealing with the

lighting issue.

I was helping Anna get

into position->
 7. Looking back to your preliminary task,
what do you feel that you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full product?
Overall, I feel that I have learnt many different skills that I was unfamiliar with before.
Working well as a group, splitting up jobs and camera skills have all been main points
at which I feel I have improved on. Thinking back to the preliminary task I can definitely
mention a number of errors that I would go back and do differently.

Although our preliminary task wasn’t too long ago I still feel that I have achieved a lot
since then. I never really looked into camera work before, I didn't think you could set a
mood or show the hierarchy of someone through just camera angles.
Our pre-production process was much more detailed in our final product, we completed
a storyboard, a shooting script, and a shooting schedule, RECCE forms, risk assessment
forms, group production schedule and booking forms.
I know now that the Situations and locations we are sometimes put in can be used to
an advantage, by filming shots from different angles and with different lighting. For
example, in some cases you may stand on a platform to get a shot from high up or
kneel down to get a low shot, and this can sometimes show peoples status.
I also learnt that we could adjust the lighting settings on the camera. This enabled us
to get clearer pictures if we had problems with the lighting. I learnt how to do a
panning shot, which I definitely didn’t know how to do before. I also learnt how to film
establishing shots and close up shots and where it would be best to film them
(angle/positioning)

When we began filming our horror clip, I couldn't help but feel nervous, this was
strange because I had already had some experience with a camera during the
preliminary task. After we did a few practice shots I gradually became more confident
and I felt I knew what I was doing a bit more. When we were filming this it was very
unorganised and we didn't really stick to our storyboard, later we found that if we
discussed what we was going to do before we actually did it, things would run a lot
smoother, as they did when we filmed the horror opening.
I think that overall as a group we all worked together well making sure everyone's
opinions and ideas where addressed. I would say the respect everybody had on each