In what ways does your media product use, develop, or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our final product (the first 5 minutes
of Teenage psychological thriller ) relates too many of the thrillers we have
studied previously, for example ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock, plus it
challenges and develops the conventions of a thriller successfully. Oracle: Mystery,
Something is hidden, Uncertainty.
Relating this to Film Noir (often a detective thriller), it features many conventions such as; suits, venetian blinds (cutting out the outside world), smoking, femme fetale, reluctant hero, establishing shots of city settings, monochrome lighting effects, cut- away shots to hide information and voice over’s our thriller develops and challenges features of this. Firstly we have not directly used venetian blinds, however for the party scene; in the conservatory setting the blinds have been drawn, cutting off the outside setting of the hot tub where Rose later partakes in drug-taking, later leading to kill her best friend. This, to me, symbolises how this ‘dangerous’ outside setting has been blocked out from the ‘ordinary situation’, because outside these blinds lies a thrilling conclusion of a murder, that has been excluded form the internal setting. The typical smoking convention of Film Noir has been challenged and changed into drug taking- relating to our teenage audience and keeping it up to date and contemporary. The femme fetale typically seen in Film Noir would have been a blonde, who was strong minded, yet vulnerable and often needs help – this relates to the character of Maddie who is blonde and tries to take the lead role by attempting to calm Rose down after she becomes slightly aggressive after taking the drugs and drinking alcohol, becoming the strong minded character, however she is a weak character and in need of help, due to the fact she is murdered by her best friend Rose. We do not have a specific reluctant hero, challenging the conventions of Film Noir; however I feel that the femme fetale, Maddie, also takes on this role slightly by trying to control the situation with no real intention of wanting to become the hero; however this is dismissed because she is murdered.
In contrast to the establishing shot of city setting often used in Film Noir, we have used a school establishing shot which relates to our teen audience, and this provides anew and fresh setting for the ordinary situation to take place. Also as the houses are in rural areas- it makes the murder even more chilling and thrilling as it is not expected in such a setting. Film Noir often uses Monochrome lighting, yet as this is to appeal to teenagers- and their role as ‘digital natives’, colour is essential in keeping them actively engaged in what is unravelling during the film, and as black and white can been seen as too ‘old fashioned’, we chose not to use this in our thriller. Another lighting effect I find particularly successful is the shot of Maddie in her Kitchen setting, the lighting from the window adds a perfect amount of shadow, plus the cream costume of Maddie blends with the similar colour scheme of the kitchen, suggesting how she belongs in this setting and is the ‘innocent victim’, due to the fact as soon as she is placed in a dark setting outside, she is murdered. In addition, we have developed the idea of the ‘cut-away’ shot that is often used in Film Noir, as the ‘fade to black transition’ used at the end where Rose looks into the mirror. This cuts away from her face quickly a she lifts her hands to the mirror, the blood obviously signifying a bad act that has taken place, suggesting she is hiding something- the audience then become intrigued to know what this is and keep engaged with the thriller.
Todorov's Narrative theory is a thriller convention that has been used in our media product. We begin with dis-equilibrium of Rose washing blood from her hands in a bathroom sink. We then flick back to the previous day where an Equilibrium is established- the normality of two best friends walking home, discussing boy troubles and typical teenager problems, the Disequilibrium then appears when Rose has taken the drugs- normality has been tarnished, the ‘Echo’ filter helps to justify this mindset of Rose and the lack of normality. The next structural law in this theory would be Realisation of disequilibrium, however Rose is unaware of her actions, on the other hand Maddie realises something is wrong and tries to calm Rose down- which would be the ‘attempt to resolve’ point in his theory. The resolution involves the death of Maddie, yet the re-equilibrium does not follow. In addition to this, it is needed to be kept in mind that we have only created the first 5 minutes of a thriller, yet this theory would run throughout the entire film, fitting the conventions of a thriller. Another point is Propp's Narrative Theory, which gives us character types such the Transient characters- which appear in and out of the film, such as Ezra, Doug, Ivy and Alexa.
Relating this to the action thriller ‘The Dark Knight’, the equilibrium is immediately disrupted with the smash of a window, which relates to our equilibrium becoming disrupted straight away with Rose washing her blood-covered hands in the sink. This is a convention often used in thrillers to draw the audience into the storyline of the film. The binary oppositions of Good vs. Evil in this thriller and many others has been adapted to fit ours, however we have developed this with the idea that even the best of friends can have their troubles, and certain situations can bring out the worst in people, playing on the convention of dramatic irony to keep the audience in suspense.
Alfred Hitchcock has been a large influence in our thriller- as we used Hitchcock’s quote to describe Thrillers as; ‘Ordinary People in Extraordinary Situations’ as the main basis for our idea. We follow a normal day of ordinary teenagers getting prepared for a party, yet this leads to an extraordinary situation of the death of Maddie, making this media product even more ‘Thrilling ’ and fitting in with the genre of our film. As an Auteur director, Hitchcock would often add features too many of his films, that would act as his own ‘personal stamp’, for example guest starring in all of his films. As we directed this film as a group, we were all included in the filming process to act as our ‘guest appearance’, however we develop this convention as we take the lead roles in the thriller, where Hitchcock would often take on the role of a spectator. In ‘Psycho’ Hitchcock adds the idea of Marion’s ‘Double Identity as he uses the mirror to relate to how she gives Norman a false identity at the hotel. In our thriller, we have included the use of a mirror- where Rose is studying the fake tan bottle, this relates to Roses’ double identity as she adopts an alternative identity after she takes the drugs which results in her killing her best friend, Maddie. The very high angle shot used by Hitchcock (where Norman carries his mother across the landing in Psycho) has been slightly adapted in our thriller as we chose to use this for the establishing shots of the party, giving the audience a clear image of where the setting is- we were originally going to use a birds-eye view shot, which was essentially what Hitchcock used, however it was impossible to film any higher than we had already and, as a group we were significantly pleased with this shot.
In A Bout de Soufflé, a bold visual style is adapted where a hand held camera is used; capturing jump cuts which reminds the audience that the film is not real life and also adds a quirky, modern style which we felt would look beneficial on our thriller. This convention has been developed in our thriller-the, hand-held camera relates to the tracking shot of Maddie walking through the party looking for rose, plus the shot of Rose and Maddie running and screaming through the woods/street. This is allowing the audience to see through the eyes of Rose, the distorted ‘Echo’ video filter develops this convention further, adding our own personal stamp to our media product as a group.
Relating this to Film Noir (often a detective thriller), it features many conventions such as; suits, venetian blinds (cutting out the outside world), smoking, femme fetale, reluctant hero, establishing shots of city settings, monochrome lighting effects, cut- away shots to hide information and voice over’s our thriller develops and challenges features of this. Firstly we have not directly used venetian blinds, however for the party scene; in the conservatory setting the blinds have been drawn, cutting off the outside setting of the hot tub where Rose later partakes in drug-taking, later leading to kill her best friend. This, to me, symbolises how this ‘dangerous’ outside setting has been blocked out from the ‘ordinary situation’, because outside these blinds lies a thrilling conclusion of a murder, that has been excluded form the internal setting. The typical smoking convention of Film Noir has been challenged and changed into drug taking- relating to our teenage audience and keeping it up to date and contemporary. The femme fetale typically seen in Film Noir would have been a blonde, who was strong minded, yet vulnerable and often needs help – this relates to the character of Maddie who is blonde and tries to take the lead role by attempting to calm Rose down after she becomes slightly aggressive after taking the drugs and drinking alcohol, becoming the strong minded character, however she is a weak character and in need of help, due to the fact she is murdered by her best friend Rose. We do not have a specific reluctant hero, challenging the conventions of Film Noir; however I feel that the femme fetale, Maddie, also takes on this role slightly by trying to control the situation with no real intention of wanting to become the hero; however this is dismissed because she is murdered.
In contrast to the establishing shot of city setting often used in Film Noir, we have used a school establishing shot which relates to our teen audience, and this provides anew and fresh setting for the ordinary situation to take place. Also as the houses are in rural areas- it makes the murder even more chilling and thrilling as it is not expected in such a setting. Film Noir often uses Monochrome lighting, yet as this is to appeal to teenagers- and their role as ‘digital natives’, colour is essential in keeping them actively engaged in what is unravelling during the film, and as black and white can been seen as too ‘old fashioned’, we chose not to use this in our thriller. Another lighting effect I find particularly successful is the shot of Maddie in her Kitchen setting, the lighting from the window adds a perfect amount of shadow, plus the cream costume of Maddie blends with the similar colour scheme of the kitchen, suggesting how she belongs in this setting and is the ‘innocent victim’, due to the fact as soon as she is placed in a dark setting outside, she is murdered. In addition, we have developed the idea of the ‘cut-away’ shot that is often used in Film Noir, as the ‘fade to black transition’ used at the end where Rose looks into the mirror. This cuts away from her face quickly a she lifts her hands to the mirror, the blood obviously signifying a bad act that has taken place, suggesting she is hiding something- the audience then become intrigued to know what this is and keep engaged with the thriller.
Todorov's Narrative theory is a thriller convention that has been used in our media product. We begin with dis-equilibrium of Rose washing blood from her hands in a bathroom sink. We then flick back to the previous day where an Equilibrium is established- the normality of two best friends walking home, discussing boy troubles and typical teenager problems, the Disequilibrium then appears when Rose has taken the drugs- normality has been tarnished, the ‘Echo’ filter helps to justify this mindset of Rose and the lack of normality. The next structural law in this theory would be Realisation of disequilibrium, however Rose is unaware of her actions, on the other hand Maddie realises something is wrong and tries to calm Rose down- which would be the ‘attempt to resolve’ point in his theory. The resolution involves the death of Maddie, yet the re-equilibrium does not follow. In addition to this, it is needed to be kept in mind that we have only created the first 5 minutes of a thriller, yet this theory would run throughout the entire film, fitting the conventions of a thriller. Another point is Propp's Narrative Theory, which gives us character types such the Transient characters- which appear in and out of the film, such as Ezra, Doug, Ivy and Alexa.
Relating this to the action thriller ‘The Dark Knight’, the equilibrium is immediately disrupted with the smash of a window, which relates to our equilibrium becoming disrupted straight away with Rose washing her blood-covered hands in the sink. This is a convention often used in thrillers to draw the audience into the storyline of the film. The binary oppositions of Good vs. Evil in this thriller and many others has been adapted to fit ours, however we have developed this with the idea that even the best of friends can have their troubles, and certain situations can bring out the worst in people, playing on the convention of dramatic irony to keep the audience in suspense.
Alfred Hitchcock has been a large influence in our thriller- as we used Hitchcock’s quote to describe Thrillers as; ‘Ordinary People in Extraordinary Situations’ as the main basis for our idea. We follow a normal day of ordinary teenagers getting prepared for a party, yet this leads to an extraordinary situation of the death of Maddie, making this media product even more ‘Thrilling ’ and fitting in with the genre of our film. As an Auteur director, Hitchcock would often add features too many of his films, that would act as his own ‘personal stamp’, for example guest starring in all of his films. As we directed this film as a group, we were all included in the filming process to act as our ‘guest appearance’, however we develop this convention as we take the lead roles in the thriller, where Hitchcock would often take on the role of a spectator. In ‘Psycho’ Hitchcock adds the idea of Marion’s ‘Double Identity as he uses the mirror to relate to how she gives Norman a false identity at the hotel. In our thriller, we have included the use of a mirror- where Rose is studying the fake tan bottle, this relates to Roses’ double identity as she adopts an alternative identity after she takes the drugs which results in her killing her best friend, Maddie. The very high angle shot used by Hitchcock (where Norman carries his mother across the landing in Psycho) has been slightly adapted in our thriller as we chose to use this for the establishing shots of the party, giving the audience a clear image of where the setting is- we were originally going to use a birds-eye view shot, which was essentially what Hitchcock used, however it was impossible to film any higher than we had already and, as a group we were significantly pleased with this shot.
In A Bout de Soufflé, a bold visual style is adapted where a hand held camera is used; capturing jump cuts which reminds the audience that the film is not real life and also adds a quirky, modern style which we felt would look beneficial on our thriller. This convention has been developed in our thriller-the, hand-held camera relates to the tracking shot of Maddie walking through the party looking for rose, plus the shot of Rose and Maddie running and screaming through the woods/street. This is allowing the audience to see through the eyes of Rose, the distorted ‘Echo’ video filter develops this convention further, adding our own personal stamp to our media product as a group.
In the crime thriller Lock, Stock and
Two Smoking Barrels, we have taken the single tracking shot that is used to
follow the men through the shop, and developed this to side-on tracking shot of
Rose and Maddie walking out from school, allowing us to start our thriller by using
a diverse selection of shot types and camera angles. The Typewriter font that
is used has been adapted as we have added typewriter font on top of the clip, instead
of onto a black clip like in this film. Originally we were all very keen to use
the shot where the ‘collision’ on the stairs took place and the speed of the
clip decreased and normalized to represent this, however we have adapted this
onto our ‘Notebook productions’ at the start where we have increased the speed
in which the writing appears- persuading the audience to watch the thriller, and
it adds our groups personal stamp onto the media product.
In La Haine the rule of thirds is positioned and planned extremely carefully- for example the shot, where the camera has been placed so that the buildings are in perfect alignment with each other (this has been posted on our blog previously). Therefore as we were filming we wanted to experiment with a large, diverse range of camera shots and movements, where we focused a lot on framing with doors, stairs, bars etc that gave the shots a little more ‘edge’ and contemporary style that developed this ordinary convention of films. Another point would be the mirror shot that is used in La Haine (insert image), influenced us to use this in our own thriller, yet we chose to shoot from a slight side on angle so the camera did not appear in the footage- however if we had more time I feel that we would have been able to achieve the shot they use where the camera takes the role of being ‘inside’ the mirror, therefore placing the audience in direct eye-line relation to the character and helping them to see through the eyes of the character, making the thriller more realistic and enticing to watch.
In La Haine the rule of thirds is positioned and planned extremely carefully- for example the shot, where the camera has been placed so that the buildings are in perfect alignment with each other (this has been posted on our blog previously). Therefore as we were filming we wanted to experiment with a large, diverse range of camera shots and movements, where we focused a lot on framing with doors, stairs, bars etc that gave the shots a little more ‘edge’ and contemporary style that developed this ordinary convention of films. Another point would be the mirror shot that is used in La Haine (insert image), influenced us to use this in our own thriller, yet we chose to shoot from a slight side on angle so the camera did not appear in the footage- however if we had more time I feel that we would have been able to achieve the shot they use where the camera takes the role of being ‘inside’ the mirror, therefore placing the audience in direct eye-line relation to the character and helping them to see through the eyes of the character, making the thriller more realistic and enticing to watch.
Relating our thriller to the Coen
brothers films that we watched in the beginning of our research into thriller
films, the ‘Willing Suspension of Disbelief’ is a convention where tension is
built and the audience are kept in suspense about what will happen, however it is
fate that saves the innocent victim- for example the flip of the coin in ‘No
Country for Old Men’. Yet in Oracle we have challenged this idea as fate has
not saved the innocent victim, yet the audience are kept in suspense with
relation to the Motifs used throughout the start to our thriller. Motifs are
used throughout many of the Coen Brothers films as they are objects, pictures ect
that appear throughout which the audience then must uncover the secret meaning
behind. For example in Barton Fink, the typewriter is a main motif that seems
to have significant meaning throughout, I feel that it reminds the audience how
this is a fictional film and we are being taken on a metaphorical journey of
the mind. Although it does not appear throughout, as our clip is only the start
of the thriller, we have inserted the Foreshadowing of danger (for Maddies'
character), as the crinkled and ripped photo falls form Roses bag. If we were
to create the entire sequence of Oracle, this photo would proberly become a
motif throughout- appearing quite frequently and allowing the audience to attach
their own meaning to it. The music we have used at the start is then played
when the photo appears, allowing the audience to make a connection and attach meanings
and possible ideas to this photo. This gives the audience access to information
that the characters are completely unaware of- dramatic irony, another typical
media convention we have developed in our thriller.
Shot reverse shot is a typical media convention used in many films- not necessarily specific to a thriller genre. In the bathroom scene (scene 2), we have incorporated this into the conversation of Ezra and Rose talking. We felt that this added to the diverse selection of shots we have already used and placed the audience in the position of the characters, keeping them more involved and wanting to continue watching. The over the shoulder shot has been used in scene 3, where Rose and Maddie are talking by the hot tub. The echo video filter which we added after Rose has taken the drugs has allowed us to develop this typical convention as we can see Maddie from Roses point of view, yet we have angled the shot so you can slightly see the side of Roses face- which moves distortedly with the Filter, explaining to the audience Roses unstable state of mind, making this clear for the audience to see and relate to.
Shot reverse shot is a typical media convention used in many films- not necessarily specific to a thriller genre. In the bathroom scene (scene 2), we have incorporated this into the conversation of Ezra and Rose talking. We felt that this added to the diverse selection of shots we have already used and placed the audience in the position of the characters, keeping them more involved and wanting to continue watching. The over the shoulder shot has been used in scene 3, where Rose and Maddie are talking by the hot tub. The echo video filter which we added after Rose has taken the drugs has allowed us to develop this typical convention as we can see Maddie from Roses point of view, yet we have angled the shot so you can slightly see the side of Roses face- which moves distortedly with the Filter, explaining to the audience Roses unstable state of mind, making this clear for the audience to see and relate to.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media
product and why?
I feel that
Warner Bros Entertainment would be a successful company to promote, distribute
market and license our Thriller. After research into the company, I discovered
important aspects which helped me to make this choice, these include; as A Time
Warner Company , Warner Bros Entertainment
is at the front of every aspect of the Entertainment industry, making it
well-known to many people across the globe. Warner Bros Entertainment has a
library consisting of 6,650 feature films, along with other media products such
as 14, 00 animated titles. To follow form this point, Warner Bros Pictures International
is a global leader in the distribution and marketing in films, which operates
in over 30 countries worldwide, allowing international releases in over 120
overseas companies. Relating to our teenage audience of 14- 29 year olds- this
company is well know and produced films such as; ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Harry
Potter’, ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘The Lucky One’, which shows how they are able to
attract a vast and diverse audience, and have had experience marketing and
distributing thrillers (e.g. The Dark Knight), plus they have promoted and
distributed films which relate to our target audience, such as ‘The Lucky One’,
therefore I feel that this company would be able to help aid us with guidance
and their knowledge of how to successfully promote, market, brand, distribute
and license our Thriller ‘Oracle’ to the best of its ability.
In addition,
as the target audience for our thriller are noted in the category of ‘Digital
Natives’ (Rupert Murdoch), I feel a successful media to promote our thriller
would be Facebook. The online social networking site is used by people of ALL
ages across the globe- especially teenagers, it will be able to catch the audience’s
attention without them having to directly go out of their way to find the film.
Plus as many teenagers are involved with groups on face book and watch/view
other advertisements, they could be more trusting with what the film is as
adverts are often posted relating to previous history- this allows the person to
know if the film will be suited to what they like to watch. Another institution
to distribute our thriller could be iTunes. This multi-platform, horizontal and
vertical integration media can access the audience’s attention on numerous
platforms- such as the Iphone, IPod, IPod, and they don’t even necessarily even
have to move an inch! They also often give out a single of the week, yet this
could be used to promote and distribute our thriller by firstly selling it for
a lower price as Film of the week.
How did you attract/address your audience?
As we are
the part of the teenage audience, we decided to use a typical teenager
situation which is flipped upside down and turned into a Thriller. Here I am going
to explain how our audience will be attracted to our thriller- also how they
can relate to it, explaining how we have addressed our target audience for our
Thriller.
In Oracle we have focused on a typical teenager situation, as our audience is for roughly the ages of 14- late 20’s. This allows the audience to again, be able to relate to what is happening- to a certain level- as they discuss boy troubles, get together to get ready for a party and have a good time with one another. However this ordinary situation with ordinary people is then flipped upside down as the taking of drugs causes an extraordinary situation to take place- the death of Roses best friend, Maddie, where she is the murderer. Although the audience would not necessarily be able to relate to this situation- it makes the film more thrilling, filling the conventions of a film that is in the thriller subgenre of a psychological thriller. This can play with the audiences mind making them ask questions such as; what if that was me taking the drugs? It is possible that I would act in the same way?
The teenage audience is familiar with antagonist ad protagonists used in action thrillers such as ‘The Dark Knight’, where the Joker acts as the antagonist, and obviously Batman acts as the protagonist. The binary oppositions of Good vs. Evil also come into play here, along with the relation to our thriller where the innocent protagonist loses her life. The antagonist in the start of our thriller would be Rose as she turns into the; evil’ character, this stereotypical character would allows the audience to relate to what was happening, making it more interesting for them to watch and keep them on their toes throughout. The protagonist- stereotypical ‘good’ character is a role that is filled by Maddie in Oracle, before she is murdered.
In Oracle we have focused on a typical teenager situation, as our audience is for roughly the ages of 14- late 20’s. This allows the audience to again, be able to relate to what is happening- to a certain level- as they discuss boy troubles, get together to get ready for a party and have a good time with one another. However this ordinary situation with ordinary people is then flipped upside down as the taking of drugs causes an extraordinary situation to take place- the death of Roses best friend, Maddie, where she is the murderer. Although the audience would not necessarily be able to relate to this situation- it makes the film more thrilling, filling the conventions of a film that is in the thriller subgenre of a psychological thriller. This can play with the audiences mind making them ask questions such as; what if that was me taking the drugs? It is possible that I would act in the same way?
The teenage audience is familiar with antagonist ad protagonists used in action thrillers such as ‘The Dark Knight’, where the Joker acts as the antagonist, and obviously Batman acts as the protagonist. The binary oppositions of Good vs. Evil also come into play here, along with the relation to our thriller where the innocent protagonist loses her life. The antagonist in the start of our thriller would be Rose as she turns into the; evil’ character, this stereotypical character would allows the audience to relate to what was happening, making it more interesting for them to watch and keep them on their toes throughout. The protagonist- stereotypical ‘good’ character is a role that is filled by Maddie in Oracle, before she is murdered.
What have you learnt about techniques from the process of
constructing this product?
Overall I
have learnt a significant amount about the filming and editing process, one
point being how it takes a very long time to film even the shortest of shots-
to make sure that the angle/movement of the camera is correct and flows with the rest of the clips when they are put together. Another
point is how it is extremely difficult to make sure that the shots have
continuity when put together. For example when we filmed the section where
Maddie nearly gets hits by the car, by Rose pulls her back; there was a green
car in the background behind Rose. Then, when we started to film the start of
the shot where the camera tracks Maddie and Rose leaving school, the car drove
away- therefore when the two clips were put together, it lacked continuity and
did not look successful at all. As a group, we then decided to take out this clip,
as we felt it ruined the vast selection of camera angles we have included and
reduced the professionalism of our thriller. We also discovered how it is very
difficult to stick to the storyboard exactly, as when you begin to film, you
start to experiment with camera angles- adding in and taking away what you feel
is appropriate. When we were filming, we considered the rule of thirds by using
framing frequently in our shots, and therefore we added in this and experimented
with new angles- such as the high angle at the top of the stairs when Maddie
walks down them as the doorbell rings- this gives the audience power over
Maddie- foreshadowing the danger that lie ahead for her character. We all found
Final Cut Express very difficult to use, having to render whenever you make a
change, adding transitions took us hours to sort out plus the video filters and
effects did not seem to be ‘professional’ looking, therefore we could not
include many of them. However, after many hours of editing, I feel that our
final thriller includes strong dialogue and a diverse selection of camera
angles throughout- with the fade to black transitions completing the thriller
perfectly- showing the passing of time in a professional manner.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you
have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Firstly we
did have to re-film our preliminary task due to the fact it was not related to
a certain director- as we did not know this was necessary as it was not
mentioned to us first of all. However
after filming the preliminary for a second time, we were all much happier with
this preliminary as it included a more improved sense of continuity. Having to
re-film was a setback for us, yet it was useful as it prepared us for when we
created our actual thriller. This is because we constantly had to re-shoot
sections to keep improving our final product; therefore in the long run it
helped us significantly when dealing with having to re-shoot etc.
I am still
very pleased with our 2nd piece of preliminary work as we created a
short spy story that focused on Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels opening scene where we gained the inspiration for this- such as the
tracking shot use when the men walk through the shop- relating this to Jordan
as the camera tracks her from an eye line level as she crouches long the floor,
looking around as she does so. The shots that we used in our preliminary
enables us to experiment with the camera angles, shot types etc, where we could
then develop these for out final thriller product. For example the shot reverse
shot used where the spy (antagonist) is talking to the protagonist, is one
which we decided to include in the bathroom scene (scene 2) as it allows the
audience to connect to the characters on a emotional level. The panning shot that we used when the spy
burst through the door was one we used for the establishing shot of the school
(sign) in Oracle, testing out these camera angles beforehand in our
preliminary, enabled us to have sufficient knowledge on what shots and angles
work well together- and those that do not. An example of this would be that
including a close up shot of feet walking from a straight on angle and then
cutting to a mid shot of the person walking from the same angle seems to lack
continuity and therefore we knew we couldn’t include this as it would not flow
well together in the series of clips. The dialogue we used in our preliminary
helped us to decide to develop a clear narrative in our final product. Another
point we discovered throughout this entire process is that the weather and
lighting has a dramatic effect on whether you can film or not- and therefore
slows down the process- this happened many times where we were unable to film
as it would ruin the continuity of the clips. However we learnt to over-come
this and fill the time by editing clips we already had ect. A new idea which we
developed in our final product is the Reversing of a clip- this has been used
on the clip at the start where Rose is washing her hands in the sink as it then
leads into the ‘previous day’ sequence, taking the audience ‘back through time’
of what has happened. This shot is then repeated at the end in normal format to
bring the audience back to the beginning, and it would then flow into the rest
of the movie.
To conclude
the process of researching, planning, filming, re-filming, editing and
finalising our final media product of a psychological teen thriller has been
challenging, yet a task which has been exciting to complete as a group, as we
were able to develop a wide range of knowledge of directors and camera angles
that would benefit this genre of film. I am pleased with the final product as I
feel the camera angles, dialogue, music fits together to create an intriguing
thriller for the target audience. If we were to complete this product again,
things to take into consideration would be; the mise en scene of the shots- is
everything the same in each clip, have new objects appeared that were not there
before?, the lighting so that characters can be seem more clearly in night time
shots etc.. Yet on the other hand this has been our first attempt with planning
and creating a thriller- and editing using Final Cut Express, therefore I feel
proud of what we have managed to produce as a group.
*Aspects I like and Dislike about our Final Media Product,
plus future improvements that could be made*
As I am in
the target audience age range, I have picked out a few aspects I particularly
like about Oracle. For example, the sound bridge from the laptop in the bedroom
where Alexa presses the button, to the high angle shot in the living room
setting of the party scene. The fade in where the music increases volume
mirrors the increase in height of the position of the camera. The opening shot
where the camera frames the door, then uses a tracking shot to focus in on the
blood in the sink is slightly blurred, which complements the ‘morning after the
night before’ style, and allows the audience to adapt a point-of-view shot and
become involved in the thriller immediately. The rule of thirds has been
considered carefully when we filmed Rose’s feet running down the stairs the
opening to the previous day sequence, as the bars of the stairs have been
positioned central to the camera, also Rose is walking central between the
stairs, giving a smooth, professional and flowing feel to the shot. The low
angle shot of the bag on the floor in the bedroom gives the audience access to
the photo shot that the characters are unaware of, clearly inserting dramatic
irony. Another shot I have pleased with is where Maddie runs down the stairs in
the from her bedroom, the alignment of the bars and shadows create an
interesting, stimulating shot that keeps the audience involved as they follow
the spiral movement of Maddie running down the stairs, keeping them intrigued
with the thriller.
In contrast, there are also shots where I feel we would have improved or are not as good as they could be, for example; the shot where Rose and Maddie walk through the door into Maddie’s house, Rose actually opens the doors- this could be misleading to the audience and we would therefore change this if we were to re-shoot this again. Also, in this same shot, Maddie leaves the door wide open- you wouldn’t leave the door to your house wide open! So therefore if we were to re-film, shutting the door would be required. Another shot we decided as a group that we were not happy with was in the hot tub scene where Doug takes the drugs from a character in the hot tub- the speech and cut jumps slightly, not giving the effect of complete continuity, however we were about to change the filter on the lighting so it contrast between the purple and blue was not so stark, although if we were to re-shoot, we would change the setting on the lights on the hot tub so they did not change colour and improved the continuity. Finally the blinds in the conservatory in the over the shoulder shot of Rose by the hot tub are not drawn- yet they were at the start of the party. We had to open the blinds to add more lighting into the clip, yet if we were prepared with correct lighting equipment- such as a lamp behind the camera, this would have improved the continuity of the sequence. In addition, we did feel that as a group the dark lighting of this outside clip added to the sense of mystery to the ‘teenage drug taking setting’, and fit in with the theme of our psychological thriller, building up the tension to the hand shot at the end.
In contrast, there are also shots where I feel we would have improved or are not as good as they could be, for example; the shot where Rose and Maddie walk through the door into Maddie’s house, Rose actually opens the doors- this could be misleading to the audience and we would therefore change this if we were to re-shoot this again. Also, in this same shot, Maddie leaves the door wide open- you wouldn’t leave the door to your house wide open! So therefore if we were to re-film, shutting the door would be required. Another shot we decided as a group that we were not happy with was in the hot tub scene where Doug takes the drugs from a character in the hot tub- the speech and cut jumps slightly, not giving the effect of complete continuity, however we were about to change the filter on the lighting so it contrast between the purple and blue was not so stark, although if we were to re-shoot, we would change the setting on the lights on the hot tub so they did not change colour and improved the continuity. Finally the blinds in the conservatory in the over the shoulder shot of Rose by the hot tub are not drawn- yet they were at the start of the party. We had to open the blinds to add more lighting into the clip, yet if we were prepared with correct lighting equipment- such as a lamp behind the camera, this would have improved the continuity of the sequence. In addition, we did feel that as a group the dark lighting of this outside clip added to the sense of mystery to the ‘teenage drug taking setting’, and fit in with the theme of our psychological thriller, building up the tension to the hand shot at the end.
Lauren Taylor.
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