Sexuality - is when someone is objectified as a sexual being and associated with having an erotic nature.
This clip is from the 2009 movie 'Obsessed' and in this extract you can see that Ali Larter's character, Lisa Sheridan is provocative and stalker like. She is presented as being an obsessive woman who believes getting what she wants can only be achieved through sexual nature.
Ethnicity - is specifically refering to someones race or culture which they are asscoiated with or their background or orgin.
This is a clip from the highly acclaimed film directed by Damien O'Donnell called 'East is East'. It shows the trials of a Pakistani father trying to make his British children stick to his strict Islamic ways.
Disability - when someone is prohibited from performing an activity due to limitation and find it hard to executing a task or action this is usually because they are mentally, socially or physically impaired.
This is an extract from the well known tv show 'Glee'. The clip presents the character, Archie as having a disability and being confined to a wheelchair, he's displayed weaker character within the show.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary task
Our Preliminary task was worked on with different people than my thriller opening, but still with the same amount of people. When I first did the preliminary task I just acted in the film and nor did I take and footage and nor do any editing. We used different camera angles and did a variety of shots, however we did not use any establishing shots and nor any close ups or extreme close ups. This meant that it was confusing for the audience and they wouldn't be able to understand what was going to happen. Moreover in our preliminary task we used dialogue which was not the case in our filming of 'The Neurotic'. We insured that we did not break the 180 degree rule other wise this would just confuse the audience. Our costumes were not planned and instead we just wore whatever we were wearing that day and made sure we finished filming in one day. Most of the camera work and editing was shared with the other members of my group because I didn't know how to use the camera correctly to get the correct shots and nor did I know how to use the editing software. The use of gender was equal and the female was not objectified, but to an extent it could be argued that the male character was in control because he had the purse. We used panning shots and also over the head shots which were not used during our thriller opening. There was no casting of characters to who fit the role instead it was members in our group at the time including me who had to act. There was no use of a soundtrack nor any non-ambient lighting the whole film sequence was executed with ambient lighting and diegetic sound/ audio that was recorded with the footage.
Transition to our Thriller opening 'The Neurotic'
In comparison to our preliminary task the main difference was the fact that I did most of the camera work and also the editing which was easy to learn once I actually tried. I learnt how to use the editing tools and how to add titles, how to create a tint, give a high contrast much like Bill Brandt's photography:
High contrast usage meant that we had to spend even longer editing the correct shots and making sure each one was at the same contrast to the last, although this was easy because it could be copied and pasted. The continued use of cross dissolve and fades were not used during our preliminary task because it was a short film sequence where as because 'The Neurotic' was a lot longer it had to run smoothly and so there had to be use of edits to make it play smoothly. A lot of planning and initial research had to be done about our audience demographic which was interesting because we found that most people preferred mainstream thrillers to independent thrillers, but we still chose to make an independent thriller in order to push controversial ideas. If you look at our thriller research you can see that many people did not like a psychological thriller however our thriller opening is a psychological thriller. The research allowed us to see what the audience demographic conventionally watch and meant that we could push the barriers needed. We didn't want our thriller to just convey the conventional views and ideas and so the research helped us learn what people like and dislike. The casting of characters was easy because the two other people in my group were drama students and also fit the characterization that had been planned and so we didn't have to spend a long time doing a casting. The ideas for a location were harder to chose. On our preliminary task we used the school grounds however for our thriller opening decided to use the train station. This was difficult because we needed the station's permission to do filming there and so we emailed them, then were given a number which then we phoned and were granted access for filming for our thriller. We learnt that its hard to find a suitable location because of all the people and needing their permission.To help with the costume I used the website 'www.polyvore.com' to enable me to choose what kind of costume Sarah's character Eve could wear.
Thinking of a title was also important. From research we had noticed that most thriller's were named according to the plot of the film and so we wanted to give the audience a similar idea. And finally we settled on the name 'The Neurotic' because it tells the audience what the movie is about without giving away any key details, also because the title is unsettling which is atmosphere needed for a psychological thriller. The soundtrack had to tie in with the title of 'The Neurotic'. The use of an eerie soundtrack which is covered by a provoking voiceover means they both work hand in hand to provide a better finish. Here is some research on what the audience prefer a soundtrack or a voiceover or neither many people said they didnt prefer neither of them and so we decided it was best to use both voiceover and soundtrack.
To use the voiceover we had to use a dictaphone to record Harley's voice whilst he read the written script. Then upload it to the computer and add it to our thriller. Also the soundtrack had to be used from an appropriate site where nothing is copyrighted because we couldn't use something that is already owned by someone else for our own thriller opening. This proved very difficult and we learnt very quickly that those soundtracks that were from unsigned artists were not what we were looking for and so ultimately we used sounds that were already saved on the school memory stick and from there we selected the right soundtrack. However we kept one of the audio sounds from the raw footage which was of the train horn which we felt was frightening and appropriate for our thriller opening.
The time frame was restricting because it meant that we had to delete a lot of camera shots and so we couldn't use all of our footage so as consequence we had to be selective with our shots. Altogether I learnt how to use a digital camcorder, how to organise filming shoots, organise characters and costumes, and mainly how to use editing software to ensure our thriller had a perfect finish.
Our Preliminary task was worked on with different people than my thriller opening, but still with the same amount of people. When I first did the preliminary task I just acted in the film and nor did I take and footage and nor do any editing. We used different camera angles and did a variety of shots, however we did not use any establishing shots and nor any close ups or extreme close ups. This meant that it was confusing for the audience and they wouldn't be able to understand what was going to happen. Moreover in our preliminary task we used dialogue which was not the case in our filming of 'The Neurotic'. We insured that we did not break the 180 degree rule other wise this would just confuse the audience. Our costumes were not planned and instead we just wore whatever we were wearing that day and made sure we finished filming in one day. Most of the camera work and editing was shared with the other members of my group because I didn't know how to use the camera correctly to get the correct shots and nor did I know how to use the editing software. The use of gender was equal and the female was not objectified, but to an extent it could be argued that the male character was in control because he had the purse. We used panning shots and also over the head shots which were not used during our thriller opening. There was no casting of characters to who fit the role instead it was members in our group at the time including me who had to act. There was no use of a soundtrack nor any non-ambient lighting the whole film sequence was executed with ambient lighting and diegetic sound/ audio that was recorded with the footage.
Transition to our Thriller opening 'The Neurotic'
In comparison to our preliminary task the main difference was the fact that I did most of the camera work and also the editing which was easy to learn once I actually tried. I learnt how to use the editing tools and how to add titles, how to create a tint, give a high contrast much like Bill Brandt's photography:
High contrast usage meant that we had to spend even longer editing the correct shots and making sure each one was at the same contrast to the last, although this was easy because it could be copied and pasted. The continued use of cross dissolve and fades were not used during our preliminary task because it was a short film sequence where as because 'The Neurotic' was a lot longer it had to run smoothly and so there had to be use of edits to make it play smoothly. A lot of planning and initial research had to be done about our audience demographic which was interesting because we found that most people preferred mainstream thrillers to independent thrillers, but we still chose to make an independent thriller in order to push controversial ideas. If you look at our thriller research you can see that many people did not like a psychological thriller however our thriller opening is a psychological thriller. The research allowed us to see what the audience demographic conventionally watch and meant that we could push the barriers needed. We didn't want our thriller to just convey the conventional views and ideas and so the research helped us learn what people like and dislike. The casting of characters was easy because the two other people in my group were drama students and also fit the characterization that had been planned and so we didn't have to spend a long time doing a casting. The ideas for a location were harder to chose. On our preliminary task we used the school grounds however for our thriller opening decided to use the train station. This was difficult because we needed the station's permission to do filming there and so we emailed them, then were given a number which then we phoned and were granted access for filming for our thriller. We learnt that its hard to find a suitable location because of all the people and needing their permission.To help with the costume I used the website 'www.polyvore.com' to enable me to choose what kind of costume Sarah's character Eve could wear.
Thinking of a title was also important. From research we had noticed that most thriller's were named according to the plot of the film and so we wanted to give the audience a similar idea. And finally we settled on the name 'The Neurotic' because it tells the audience what the movie is about without giving away any key details, also because the title is unsettling which is atmosphere needed for a psychological thriller. The soundtrack had to tie in with the title of 'The Neurotic'. The use of an eerie soundtrack which is covered by a provoking voiceover means they both work hand in hand to provide a better finish. Here is some research on what the audience prefer a soundtrack or a voiceover or neither many people said they didnt prefer neither of them and so we decided it was best to use both voiceover and soundtrack.
To use the voiceover we had to use a dictaphone to record Harley's voice whilst he read the written script. Then upload it to the computer and add it to our thriller. Also the soundtrack had to be used from an appropriate site where nothing is copyrighted because we couldn't use something that is already owned by someone else for our own thriller opening. This proved very difficult and we learnt very quickly that those soundtracks that were from unsigned artists were not what we were looking for and so ultimately we used sounds that were already saved on the school memory stick and from there we selected the right soundtrack. However we kept one of the audio sounds from the raw footage which was of the train horn which we felt was frightening and appropriate for our thriller opening.
The time frame was restricting because it meant that we had to delete a lot of camera shots and so we couldn't use all of our footage so as consequence we had to be selective with our shots. Altogether I learnt how to use a digital camcorder, how to organise filming shoots, organise characters and costumes, and mainly how to use editing software to ensure our thriller had a perfect finish.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
YouTube
Youtube has helped thoroughly throughout my work because of its free use of video clips which allows me to explore into so many different types of thriller openings. Which in turn meant I got inspiration for my film opening and also understood how thriller films are constructed and how the thrillers vary in camera shots. Also YouTube provides a range of media texts to look at ranging from TV drama's to music video's to actual movies. All of these helped to inspire my thriller. I used many clips from YouTube during my thriller research. I showed people different thrillers with different sub-genre's and in total there were five clips. This involved having a screening of each and asking people which thriller they liked/disliked etc. Not only did YouTube help with camera shots and mise en scene but also helped incredibly with the soundtrack and allowed our group to listen to similar soundtracks to provoke ideas for our own thriller. All of this went in to our research and planning and how YouTube helped us with that.
The Black Dahlia
Blogger
Another main technology that has enabled me to post my work to and allow my fellow classmates and teachers to give feedback on is my cns blog. My blog has meant that my teachers can give me feedback whenever and comment on areas that could be improved or if my work is done well they can give praise. Also other students that are following my blog can make comments on work that I have posted. To continue my blog was very easy to use and understand when I first started blogging this meant that the site was not that complex and so it would be easy for other people to access my work and give feedback. My blog also allowed for all my work to be in one place. So all the video clips, the thrillers used, research and other essays and so I could have everything in one solid place. There are also labels which means the work is easy to find. Everything is organised and kept securely on my blog.
Digital Camcorders
Furthermore I did a lot of the camera work in my group and so it was vital for me to know how to use a camcorder accordingly and appropriately. We had to move around the train station and on the train and so it helped greatly that the camera was light and portable. Also we had to get on and off trains and so in order to get off at the right times we had to be quick which was perfectly easy because the camcorder was small and handheld. The camera allowed us to rewind back and see the footage that has already been taken and so if there was a shot that didn't seem correct we were able to re-do the shot in order to get a perfect finish. The camera was used with a tape which could be removed and used in other cameras so if ever our camera broke we wouldn't lose our footage and if needed we could shoot more footage on a another camera but still keep all of the footage in one place.
Adobe Premier Elements
Adobe Premier helped with editing and meant that we could cut and use whatever shots we wished. I was also heavily involved in the editing of our thriller. We used effects such as Cross-Dissolve to keep the thriller moving swiftly and smoothly. Then there was the razor tool which allowed us to cut whichever shots which we didn't need but also allowed us to shorten those shots where we didn't need the complete shot.
Also the use of high contrast meant that we differ between the two characters. The way we did this is to go on 'edit' and put the stalkers scenes in black and white and then make the tint a lot thicker to give a strong contrast which meant darker shadows and brighter light like chiaroscuro. A fade to black edit was use at the end of the opening where there was only the title left remaining on the screen which meant that there had to be a fade to black to emphasise the title. As you can see from the above images the use of high contrast made the film seem more professional and clean cut. The title font was added from the website 'www.dafont.com' where we chose the font '28 days later'. We then added the titles wherever they were needed. Then the soundtrack had to be added, we used two different sounds for the thriller opening of 'The Neurotic' one of which is more creepy and the second which is eerie. This was also easy to add because below the film footage was a space for the sound which could be easily inserted. The sound being below the footage meant they both would play in sync. If the soundtrack need to be lowered then there were bars that could be changed to make it louder or quieter. All of this together allowed a good quality finish to our 'The Neurotic'.
Youtube has helped thoroughly throughout my work because of its free use of video clips which allows me to explore into so many different types of thriller openings. Which in turn meant I got inspiration for my film opening and also understood how thriller films are constructed and how the thrillers vary in camera shots. Also YouTube provides a range of media texts to look at ranging from TV drama's to music video's to actual movies. All of these helped to inspire my thriller. I used many clips from YouTube during my thriller research. I showed people different thrillers with different sub-genre's and in total there were five clips. This involved having a screening of each and asking people which thriller they liked/disliked etc. Not only did YouTube help with camera shots and mise en scene but also helped incredibly with the soundtrack and allowed our group to listen to similar soundtracks to provoke ideas for our own thriller. All of this went in to our research and planning and how YouTube helped us with that.
The Black Dahlia
Blogger
Another main technology that has enabled me to post my work to and allow my fellow classmates and teachers to give feedback on is my cns blog. My blog has meant that my teachers can give me feedback whenever and comment on areas that could be improved or if my work is done well they can give praise. Also other students that are following my blog can make comments on work that I have posted. To continue my blog was very easy to use and understand when I first started blogging this meant that the site was not that complex and so it would be easy for other people to access my work and give feedback. My blog also allowed for all my work to be in one place. So all the video clips, the thrillers used, research and other essays and so I could have everything in one solid place. There are also labels which means the work is easy to find. Everything is organised and kept securely on my blog.
Digital Camcorders
Furthermore I did a lot of the camera work in my group and so it was vital for me to know how to use a camcorder accordingly and appropriately. We had to move around the train station and on the train and so it helped greatly that the camera was light and portable. Also we had to get on and off trains and so in order to get off at the right times we had to be quick which was perfectly easy because the camcorder was small and handheld. The camera allowed us to rewind back and see the footage that has already been taken and so if there was a shot that didn't seem correct we were able to re-do the shot in order to get a perfect finish. The camera was used with a tape which could be removed and used in other cameras so if ever our camera broke we wouldn't lose our footage and if needed we could shoot more footage on a another camera but still keep all of the footage in one place.
Adobe Premier Elements
Adobe Premier helped with editing and meant that we could cut and use whatever shots we wished. I was also heavily involved in the editing of our thriller. We used effects such as Cross-Dissolve to keep the thriller moving swiftly and smoothly. Then there was the razor tool which allowed us to cut whichever shots which we didn't need but also allowed us to shorten those shots where we didn't need the complete shot.
Also the use of high contrast meant that we differ between the two characters. The way we did this is to go on 'edit' and put the stalkers scenes in black and white and then make the tint a lot thicker to give a strong contrast which meant darker shadows and brighter light like chiaroscuro. A fade to black edit was use at the end of the opening where there was only the title left remaining on the screen which meant that there had to be a fade to black to emphasise the title. As you can see from the above images the use of high contrast made the film seem more professional and clean cut. The title font was added from the website 'www.dafont.com' where we chose the font '28 days later'. We then added the titles wherever they were needed. Then the soundtrack had to be added, we used two different sounds for the thriller opening of 'The Neurotic' one of which is more creepy and the second which is eerie. This was also easy to add because below the film footage was a space for the sound which could be easily inserted. The sound being below the footage meant they both would play in sync. If the soundtrack need to be lowered then there were bars that could be changed to make it louder or quieter. All of this together allowed a good quality finish to our 'The Neurotic'.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
The main point to consider is that we focused closely on the mise en scene in order to target our audience. The use of local locations that are recognizable means that the audience will find it easier because of regional identity and so the audience will be more susceptible to watching the film because of its location. Furthermore the connotations linked with the Eve's costume is that she is a typical British teenager. Eve's clothes signify her character as being defenseless and weak, however her costumes also exemplifies how usually the British teenager would dress or even most teenagers. This use of costume addresses the teenage audience whom are in fact the target audience. Sarah's characters is seen wearing dark jeans and a bright top with a jacket these are also quite casual clothes which means her costumes is much more universal in its connection with the audience. Also the clothing Eve's wearing are clothes from high street shops such as Primark, H&M and Topshop. This is another point that gives the audience an opportunity to relate to the thriller better and also gives the audience an outline of what to expect and already they have found something appealing from the thriller opening.
Topshop
On the other hand the soundtrack reflects to the older section of the audience demographic so those above the age of 18 to 25 would be able to understand the connotations linked to the use of the soundtrack. The soundtrack is fairly sinister and unsettling and so its more likely to appeal to those of more of a mature age instead of those who are younger and easily scared. The soundtrack is not in place to appeal to the audience but to allow the audience to understand the thriller atmosphere and also it provides to those who are in to the thriller genre. A further reason why the teenage audience may well be attracted to the psychological thriller opening we've constructed is because the film opening links closely to the grayness and dismal colours of the hit TV teen drama 'Skins'. Where it can be seen in season 3 of episode 8 which can be watched on YouTube unfortunately I was unable to embed the clip because it is disabled but be free to look at the skins episode by following this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbq7O3twUu0&has_verified=1. Moreover the use of our cliffhanger by the use of enigma's is what will happen to the victim? will the stalker kill her? take her life? Throughout our thriller 'The Neurotic' we try to not give too much information away and instead try keep almost everything a secret. This means we do not move the plot that much and instead just set the scene for the audience to take into account the implications that have been set up and make up their own assumptions. The use of a cliff hanger consequently means that the audience will want to watch the rest of the movie if they are interested in the cliff hanger that has been used. We didn't use any special effects to create stunts either because we wanted to keep the thriller raw and relatble and also because the thriller itself is actually a psychological independent thriller and so it wouldnt make sense to use stunts. From the audience research you can see that in fact people prefer a thriller without special effects.
Topshop
On the other hand the soundtrack reflects to the older section of the audience demographic so those above the age of 18 to 25 would be able to understand the connotations linked to the use of the soundtrack. The soundtrack is fairly sinister and unsettling and so its more likely to appeal to those of more of a mature age instead of those who are younger and easily scared. The soundtrack is not in place to appeal to the audience but to allow the audience to understand the thriller atmosphere and also it provides to those who are in to the thriller genre. A further reason why the teenage audience may well be attracted to the psychological thriller opening we've constructed is because the film opening links closely to the grayness and dismal colours of the hit TV teen drama 'Skins'. Where it can be seen in season 3 of episode 8 which can be watched on YouTube unfortunately I was unable to embed the clip because it is disabled but be free to look at the skins episode by following this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbq7O3twUu0&has_verified=1. Moreover the use of our cliffhanger by the use of enigma's is what will happen to the victim? will the stalker kill her? take her life? Throughout our thriller 'The Neurotic' we try to not give too much information away and instead try keep almost everything a secret. This means we do not move the plot that much and instead just set the scene for the audience to take into account the implications that have been set up and make up their own assumptions. The use of a cliff hanger consequently means that the audience will want to watch the rest of the movie if they are interested in the cliff hanger that has been used. We didn't use any special effects to create stunts either because we wanted to keep the thriller raw and relatble and also because the thriller itself is actually a psychological independent thriller and so it wouldnt make sense to use stunts. From the audience research you can see that in fact people prefer a thriller without special effects.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The primary target audience for out thriller 'The Neurotic' is the 15-25 demographic. We are targeting a younger because 'The Neurotic' incorporates a cast which is very young and so this reflects the target and who will want to watch the film. If the target audience was someone of the age of 50 they would find it hard to relate to the thriller and also the characters. Where as the younger the audience the easier it is for them to grasp the film opening and comprehend the characters. Also the costumes used to dress the characters means that the characters will be harder to relate to an older audience. As you can see from the graph below most of -my research was conducted on the audience demoggraphic of 17-25 which is very close to my target audience of 15-25.
The female audience will be able to understand Sarah's character, Eve because she is character who needs sympathy. Also women will be able to relate to her being shown as a victim and her vulnerability, but more importantly how women are shown as inferior in comparison to males. I also believe that women would appreciate that Eve as a woman is not being objectified and so it means Eve is more acceptable by the female public. However Feminists may find the opening degrading to women because they are being represented as weak individuals. Also the male demographic may find it interesting to watch the characterization of the stalker and how he presents the males in general. Men might be able to connect with Harley's character because of his demand of control and dominance over the situation.
The female audience will be able to understand Sarah's character, Eve because she is character who needs sympathy. Also women will be able to relate to her being shown as a victim and her vulnerability, but more importantly how women are shown as inferior in comparison to males. I also believe that women would appreciate that Eve as a woman is not being objectified and so it means Eve is more acceptable by the female public. However Feminists may find the opening degrading to women because they are being represented as weak individuals. Also the male demographic may find it interesting to watch the characterization of the stalker and how he presents the males in general. Men might be able to connect with Harley's character because of his demand of control and dominance over the situation.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For our independent thriller it would be best to be shown on the internet through a website such as YouTube which is a free video sharing website. This will allow many different people watch our two minute thriller opening and give feedback but also be able to enjoy it for free. The use of YouTube means out thriller is being exhibited by a wide audience. The audience will also consist of many different ages and also a lot of different people from different countries and different backgrounds. Moreover the use of the internet means that there is no target audience however it could be said that people with the internet are being targeted and those who do not have it, nor the time to use it are being rejected. Another reason why our thriller would be better on the internet than in cinemas such as Vue and Odeon is because our film opening is of an independent thriller which means that it is not targeting all conventional ideas and themes and so it is less relatable to be distributed by large companies. If companies pay to have an independent film shown at their cinemas and no one watches the film then profit wise they are losing a lot of money. Where as presenting mainstream thrillers is a more profitable and safer option.
Another place where our thriller could be exhibited is through Picture-house who are known for their exhibition of independent movies. This would could be shown as a preview before the beginning of another independent film, insuring that an independent film watching audience is being presented with our media product thus allowing the right audience to be targeted. It also allows to give some sort of insight in to if the film was to be released if it would be successful? In comparison to other media institutions who wouldn't be successful in executing our thriller appropriately for example Vue cinemas and Odeon cinemas.
On the other hand our thriller opening could be viewed by the audience at the 'London Short Film Festival'. This is their website http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/ and it allows young directors and film makers to display their work. Also the festival specifically looks at short films and seeing as our thriller is considered a short film because it is only the film opening and not the whole film. Also the festival attracts many young people which is in fact our target audience. The teenage audience can relate to our film opening which makes it more suitable for our thriller to be distributed in a market where teenagers are more like to consume it.
Monday, 26 April 2010
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