Evaluation

Evaluation.

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

Our media product draws on most conventions of a thriller opening; suspense, action, mixtures of fast and slow editing and other key aspects feature to ensure that the target audience is obtained.  Although our piece does not challenge all expectations of a thriller, it uses some to capture an audience that will enjoy the creative use of the motifs and conventions associated with this genre.

 like a typical thriller trailer, we used a soundtrack to enhance the themes of the clip. The music we used was music from an amateur musician from the video sharing site YouTube, in which we asked permission to use. In the editing process we manipulated and volume automated the tracks to fit the scenes in our piece like a typical opening sequence. We made sure that the music fit the genre because the original riff used in the track we asked to use is copied from a thriller/horror movie called SAW and contains the right energy to emphasise the chase scene.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents mainly the young adult social group, as the actors featured are 18. Although this may appear to have its limitations in terms of connecting with a wide audience, it should incidentally create a new audience as the appeal of a younger cast may draw people of the same ages who wouldn't usually go to see a thriller. Although we often see slightly older cast members in thrillers; Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series for example, the idea of selecting a predominately younger cast seems to be increasingly popular; Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemur in 'Disturbia', for example. Both these actors are young and had little film acting experience before, yet Disturbia hit number one and made £23 million in its first week of release, from a small budget of just $20million; worldwide it made $117 million, proving that a young cast can appeal to people beyond its assumed audience.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A number of institutions may wish to take on a thriller with younger and older audience appeal; naturally, the more audiences targeted, the more of a financial success the film is able to be. For example, paramount pictures clearly foresaw the talent of Disturbia's young cast and the potential it had to attract a large audience; they decided to give the green light which was a wise move for Paramount, as it was a box office hit. Because our cast is also male and female, this broadens the demographic, making it more appealing to an institution.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Thinking about the narrative style of our opening, I would expect the typical age and gender of our target audience would be mainly male of ages 13+. We feel that it would attract a male audience because other films such as 'die hard' and 'rush hour' follow the same concepts of chase scenes and dominant male protagonists. 

However, unlike these films, our male main characters are teenagers attracting a younger audience also.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The age range of the actors in our sequence i think attracts and reflects the target audience (Just like 'disturbia's young cast, this would appeal to others of the actors age.) Because we chose the thriller concept of an unusual occurrence happening in a normal situation, part of our mise en scene, our characters clothing portrayed a normal, typical teenagers fashion sense, which would appeal and relate to a teenage target audience. 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

During the planning, filming and editing phases we learnt how to combine various technologies, software and hardware to create the final product. As last year we had an issue with taking the colleges steady cams off site outside of college hours we used our own camera device. Although the quality of image was poorer, our plot and story line would have been weaker if our location was limited to the college grounds. We edited and manipulated sound and video in the Software final cut pro; the acquisition and implement of skills needed to use this programme were paramount to the successful editing of our piece.  Through the use of these various technologies and devices, we learnt that attention to detail and technological convergence are paramount to creating an opening sequence. 

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

From the very early stages to the final cut, we have learnt a number of valuable lessons when considering the technicalities and complications that we are faced with as creators of an opening sequence. We have collectively realised that continuity is an issue of great importance, as physical changes to actors and surroundings can set filming back, and look bad. In addition to the issue of continuity, the time frame and correct use of time allocated is also an issue we have learnt crucial lessons from. In order to use time as efficiently as possible, a time plan or time frame should be at least agreed upon, and preferably written down in order to complete filming with sufficient time to edit. That said, we are aware we have exceeded the time limit of our opening sequence but we found it difficult to set the soundtrack to the plot in our sequence without exceeding the limit slightly.