Kirsty - AS Media

Our preliminary task was a of a low standard, reflecting our unfamiliarity with each other, the subject and the course.


Our prelim hadn't had much preparation, there were only minimal signs of thought over mise-en-scene elements and cinematography, and we didn't have much skill when it came to editing either.

Our film opening is very different from our initial preliminary idea, as we needed a more thought-out idea, that had a little bit more depth than our original piece. Our preliminary production had a very basic script and the idea was thought up in around 15 minutes (if not less), so we had no emotional attachments to it.

Our film opening however, preparation-wise, was developed by several months worth. Not only did we write an in-depth script before hand, we created storyboards too (something we hadn't even considered for our pre-lim).  Our script actually went through several drafts and group members before it was finalised. Before we worked as a group to create our script and storyboards, we researched our target market, thriller conventions and theories, to make sure that our film was of a high standard, suitable to our target audience. We had those who fell into our target audience complete questionnaires, and we documented our research onto our blogs, many in the form of different Web 2.0 tools. The only research we conducted for our preliminary task was figuring out what on earth the camera angles specified to use, were, and how to film them.

 When we filmed our preliminary task, we only had mobile phones on our equipment list. If you look at this blogpost, you can see the equipment we ended up using. This included multiple HD cameras, a dolly, tripods and a flood light - all items we didn't use for our first filming task.
 We had an evening where we tested out different camera angles and used our equipment properly for the first time. I remember at one point, all four of us were trying to attach the camera to the tripod and the tripod to the dolly and initially, we were very confused. However, with a little bit of persistence, teamwork and practise, we solved the problem.

 In our preliminary composition, we really didn't look too far into mise-en-scene elements - however, this changed dramatically for our final production. It took several weeks of location scouting before we finally decided on (and earned permission for) our chosen setting.
 We used no props in our preliminary task, however, we had two major ones used in our final clip (a mobile phone and puzzle box).
 When it came to costume, hair and makeup, we just filmed Lauren and Yoli as they were on the day for our first filming task. This contrasts dramatically for our final production, as we looked into connotations of clothing and its colour, creating a mood board of our characters' outfits before filming.
 It's obvious in our preliminary task that we didn't take lighting into account, we just used what was available, which left us with hardly a tense atmosphere at all; definitely not something we'd expect from a thriller. In our final piece, we had a floodlight to create shadows spotlight our characters in a way. We also edited the footage so that the lighting was more low key - this way, we created the atmosphere a thriller deserves. I personally also edited the colour of the piece, making it less saturated and a modified the tone so that it was colder, a common technique used when editing thriller films.
 In our preliminary task, there are a couple of clips featuring those behind the camera - an absolute no-no move. We didn't really experiment much with positioning and framing when it came to our original composition, meaning the audience had to rely on the poor acting skills and dialogue for information on the relationship of the characters. We developed from this in our final piece, as we had characters Tyler and Charlie feature in a number of different shots highlighting their positioning from each other, which clearly represents their relationship to the audience, unlike our preliminary piece.
 When it came to casting for our preliminary task, we had two members of our group volunteer as it was the quickest solution. This resulted in the acting not being very professional, thus occasionally making it difficult for the audience to understand what feelings the characters were portraying. When it came to preparing for our final composition however, we held a series of auditions to find three people suited to our characters, who could clearly express themselves in a way that was easily interpreted by the audience.

One thing I have to admit that I liked from our preliminary task was the amount of different camera angles we used. Admittedly, it was obvious we needed a little practise or equipment support (such as a tripod for steadiness), but we included a range of shots within just 40 seconds. We carried this theme throughout our final product, developing it by researching and becoming familiar with alternative shots and angles. We featured a 'point of view' (POV) shot, a panning shot and a tracking shot in our final composition, adding more movement than we had initially in our preliminary piece, (which was mostly made up of still shots).
 For the preliminary task, we had a list of shots we needed to feature. We focused on these, and included them even if we thought they looked a bit rubbish on screen (such as our 180-degree rule clip). If we weren't keen on a certain angle for a clip, we wouldn't use it on our final product. Often, we tried it somewhere else - for example, we knew we wanted to feature a high angled shot in our piece to make our protagonist seem small and vulnerable, however, where we initially placed it just didn't work. When introducing our characters, we originally wanted to foreshadow their peril, but we also wanted our audience to relate to them, not simply perceive them as weak. Instead, we used eye level and over the shoulder shots for our characters' introductions, and moved the high angled shot to when our character Charlie is banging at the door, trying to get out, as this is a key moment where the audience realises how endangered Charlie is, and thus Charlie should definitely be represented as small here.
 From our preliminary, I realised how effective close ups were and after discovering how important they are in mise-en-scene as well, we made sure to incorporate more into our final piece. This added extra dimension to the introductions of our characters, and clearly showed their expressions (which exhibits elements of mise-en-scene in our film opening).

The editing in our preliminary piece is very basic, as I said in my question six answer, it pretty much shows where my editing skills were at at the start of the year - I knew how to split and crop clips. We edited it on Final Cut Pro, a software I hadn't used previous to being on the course, so I didn't know how to add text, transitions or sound effects.
 The first thing I taught myself was colour isolation, an effect similar to that used in 'Sin City'. It took a long time and a lot of fiddling around with different settings because my version of Final Cut Pro was slightly different to the one used in the tutorial I watched, but I was able to do it in the end. The video showing this can be viewed here.
 I also learnt how to manipulate the speed of a clip, as some shots appeared more dramatic sped up. For example, so as not to damage property, the actress playing our character Charlie didn't want to bang on the door too crazily, in order to control her movements, they weren't as quick and didn't appear as desperate as we wanted. To fix this, I sped the clip up, fast enough so it appeared dramatic, but slow enough not to appear unrealistic. Initially, I kept doing this wrong - I kept changing the length of the clip, not the speed of it. After a google however, I solved my problem.
 One problem we came across both in our preliminary and final products was that we filmed in different dimensions when it came to using different equipment. For the preliminary, we left the problem unsolved. However, we worked on this, and eventually I managed to figure out what settings to change on our Final Cut Pro project in order to make sure it was in the dimensions we needed it to be in. After that, it was simply a case of becoming familiar with transforming clips to fit the frame.
 Our preliminary task doesn't use any filters or transitions - something we worked on for our Final piece. Having created the audition and location videos, I experimented with different transitions and fonts to see what looked most professional and effective. The videos obviously weren't quite in the same context and mood as the thriller film opening, but it made me more familiar with what was available on the software nonetheless. One major problem I had was the fact that a large number of the filters apparently available on Final Cut Pro, just didn't work. When looking up the problem, most of the solutions seemed out of my ability to perform, as the software is on my school's computers (so I don't have permission to complete some actions on there). Nevertheless, I worked with what was available to me and used test footage to experiment with filters and glitch effects. After hearing feedback, I added what was most desired into our final piece. Although I'm proud of the editing I produced on our film, I am still disappointed as I believe some of the unavailable filters could have added just that extra little bit of magic to our product.

 Additionally, in terms of added in sound, we used none for our preliminary product. Neither did we change the levels of certain clips, which was certainly needed as there are some areas that are almost inaudible, whereas others are so loud it would partially deafen you had you had your earphones turned all the way up to hear the quieter parts. The reasoning behind leaving it unedited was simply because we didn't know how to select the sound from a clip and change its volume. Of course, that changed as I became more experienced with Final Cut Pro. Not only can I select it and change its volume, but I can detach it from its original clip, whilst dragging it over another so that the sound travels fluently as the shots change. We added in royalty-free music and sound effects that we deemed suitable for our clip, and I manipulated two different tracks so that they would work together underneath our piece. I made sure to try and level the sound, but I found it difficult because there were sound effects that were supposed to be somewhat uncomfortably loud. In general however, the dialogue is around the same level, and the louder sound effects only occur when there isn't anything else to hear. I made sure that the difference in loudness couldn't lead to partial deafness - which is an improvement to say the least.

Looking back at what I've learnt from the progression originating at our preliminary task to our final product, I can't believe how much experience and media knowledge I've obtained. Considering I knew practically nothing at the beginning of this course, to have learnt about theories, the importance of mise-en-scene and the range of camera angles has been a little overwhelming and scary at times. However, I genuinely believe that I've done well to have adapted to the course, and having applied my new earned knowledge as soon as I could. I think I struggled with the theory or essay writing the most, as I felt very inexperienced and somewhat intimidated by the rest of my class (as far as I was aware, they all had previous media practise). I was never sure where to begin or finish, and I felt like either I hadn't written enough... or that I'd written too much. This may also be a symptom of my perfectionism though, rather than just uncertainty. Nonetheless, though it took me a lot longer to produce my research blog posts, I feel like their standard is very high. I think I excelled when it came to progressing my editing skills - even though certain techniques took me a while to teach myself (the 'Sin City' effect, of course), I would still stand by the idea that I'm a quick learner, and if not that, certainly a determined and persistent one. Unlike the research aspect, I felt a lot more confident with what I was producing.  Overall, I believe I've become more confident in media in general, and I no longer feel like the lost, inexperienced student sitting in a seemingly alien class. It feels like home.

If the animation doesn't work, what I've written is as follows:

 As a group, we decided that the thriller genre would be the genre we would go forward with. We not only find these films the most interesting (with the conventions being the most fun to create and portray), but as an audience member, thriller's both keep you on the edge of your seat and stimulate your mind. Often, the BBFC rate thrillers a 15, and thrillers themselves have an audience that falls within the 15-25 age range (this also happens to be the age range that visits the cinema the most). As we, the creators, are of a similar age, we felt as though we could create a piece that our audience could relate to, and thus be more scared by. 

 We decided to rate our film a 15 as the BBFC states that for a 12 rated film, there may be; "moderate physical and psychological threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be". We know that as it's a thriller, the overall tone will certainly be rather disturbing, not to mention the almost constant heavy threat - consequently, it should be rated higher than a 12. Nonetheless, it should not be rated as high as an 18, as it isn't especially gory, nor is there any nudity. However, as there is dangerous, imitable behaviour, strong threat and some violence (all not focused on for too long within a scene), it fits within the 15 rating perfectly!

 We made sure to cast people who fell into that age range for the same reason - we wanted the audience to be able to relate to the characters onscreen, thus making our movie more of a success as hopefully it would terrify the audience more effectively and consequently be greater shared. 

 From previous research, we know that males tend to dominate as the general audience for thrillers, as it is seen as a positive, brave/masculine trait. To encourage this, we conformed to the male gaze theory, having an attractive female lead. Additionally, males may use a thriller film as an opportunity for a date, to show off their "valour" and comfort their partner. This means our secondary audience could be young females - in order to influence this further, both of our lead protagonist roles are female, hopefully empowering our young generation of girls.

 We also tried to use props that related to our target audience - the most obvious of which is a mobile phone. Thrillers often put characters in unlikely scenarios, which can sometimes make films hard to believe or relate to (thus negatively impacting the success of the film). By including small details like this, the audience's subconscious may be tricked into feeling comfortable, making it a greater shock as the story develops into abnormality. To add to this, we put our characters in an identifiable scenario (peer pressure) so that initially, again, our audience would feel they were in a somewhat normal situation.

Above is a "Facebook" profile I made as a typical target audience member. Below is a Padlet.

 In order for my film to be identifiable as a thriller, it needs to hold some conventions of those typical of the genre.  Various social groups are always represented in these films, so I had to make sure that I too, represented different social.

One of the reasons my group and I decided to create a two minute film opening of the thriller genre is because we all agreed that the conventions of this would be the most fun and interesting to recreate. Having done research and analysis of different films within the thriller genre, we came across themes we thought were effective, and some we decided to challenge.
 The title of our film is "Hide and Seek", as our film starts with two characters playing hide and seek - it's pretty straight to the point. We had seen this in other thrillers, such as "Lights Out" (which features a demonic phantom that appears whenever the lights go out), and "Seven" (which is inspired by and based on the seven deadly sins). We thought this was especially effective as the game hide and seek is often connoted to ideas of fun and innocence, luring the audience into a false sense of security.
 Our story is about to female friends who decide to break into a derelict building and play hide and seek. Whilst playing, the girl hiding, Tyler, doesn't reply to Charlie, the girl seeking's shouts. Growing in concern, Charlie asks Tyler to stop playing and just come out, fearing the worst. Her phone rings, and our antagonist says, "I've found your friend..." Charlie tries to leave the building, but finds she is locked in. As she explores the building for a way out, she notices drag marks. Following them, she grows into an even greater panic. Our opening ends as Charlie stumbles, before looking up in concern, at which point her face becomes covered by a moving shadow.
 In order to set this up, we used a series of skills and conventions. Our characters were introduced at eye level, so that the audience automatically related to them. This was inspired by the introduction of Teddy and Chuck in Shutter Island. Tyler and Charlie had strong, contrasting personalities, their characteristics shown clearly from the very beginning by use of exaggeration. Tyler was bold and daring, and Charlie was timid and unsure. Though the characters are almost complete opposites of each other, they both represent weakness - additionally, by using opposites, we're able to have more of the audience relate to our characters.
 Though we wanted the audience to relate to our protagonists, we also used high angled shots to represent our character Charlie at some points. This was to express her vulnerability and fear within camera work, which I realised was incredibly important after watching 'Inception'. When being introduced to characters in that film, we instantly know how powerful they are by the camera angle used to present them.
 When it came to camera work, we conformed to most aspects of it. However, one area we challenged is how we presented Luke - we used an extreme close up at eye level. Often, an antagonist is introduced with a low angled shot, as this emphasises their power and danger. However, by using an extreme close up at eye level (alongside Charlie's face), it came across as distorted and odd - a risk to try an attempt on screen, but justified by the fact that we wanted the audience to feel confused and uncomfortable, so that again, it was easy to relate to Tyler. People see thrillers for the thrill - we wanted to somehow evoke an uncomfortable emotion within our audience even though we only had two minutes to do it in.
Another convention that we didn't conform to when creating our thriller was location - often, in thriller films, the location is urban, based in the city or streets. We challenged this by using a derelict barn on a farm, in a rural area. Initially, the locations we were looking at (abandoned hospitals and asylums) would have led us to more urban locations, however, the loactions were either too far away, bulldozed down, or were practically impossible to gain permission for (as most were not safe to film in). We had to develop our idea by keeping the theme of abandonment and deterioration for atmosphere. but in a place that was easier to gain permission for and travel to. After going through a couple more rounds of location scouting and asking for our target audiences feedback through a focus group, we were able to select this barn as the most effective.
 When looking at the cast of our thriller, we both conform and challenge the conventions. Most thrillers have male and female leads in, which ours conforms to. However, often, these characters are both protagonists, and the male is the hero whilst the female is the victim/damsel in distress. This is where our film begins to challenge the conventions of casting in a thriller. We used two female protagonists, whilst our male was the antagonist. This is because we wanted to use severe binary opposites to represent good and wicked, not only representing this through gender but also in looks. Our females are blonde with light eyes, whereas our antagonist is dark haired with stubble. We thought that as young women are within our secondary audience bracket, we should encourage and empower them within our film, crushing gender roles and stereotypes (an increasingly popular topic and very spoken about subject within our target audience's generation).
 We also conform to an extent with the male gaze theory, as our lead, Charlie, who is followed throughout the opening, is beautiful. However, she is tall and naturally muscular, and forced to be somewhat strong throughout our film - without a male romantic interest. Should we have continued our story past the opening, I believe this would have set us up to conform to the final girl theory, which supports the empowerment of women within the thriller and horror genres. This was inspired by films such as "Alien" of the thriller genre, and more recent successes (especially for our target audiences generation), "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent".
 When it came to costuming, the most obvious convention is the use of our red jacket on our character Tyler. The jacket alone foreshadowed danger, and represented Tyler bringing the terrifying scenario upon herself.
 We used a couple of props, a puzzle box and a mobile phone. The use of technology was thought of after our group member, Lauren, watched "Friend Request". As our target audience is a generation that uses technology every day, and the thriller "Friend Request" was made scarier by using technology, we decided to also conform to this idea.
 We wanted to represent an element of noir in our opening, as not only a convention but a tribute to where thrillers originated. We show this by using the black and white effect at the beginning of our film. We've developed it however, by including one other colour: red. Inspired by "Sin City" and "Schindler's List", we thought the impact this had on a scene was incredible. Though it's used to differentiate between a flash forward and the present, the isolation of the colour red foreshadows the danger our characters are about to face. This was the most difficult effect to master, but absolutely worth our time.
 We also manipulated the speed of clips, something often done in thriller films as the unnatural speed makes the audience uncomfortable. As it was, by speeding certain clips up, it made our character Charlie look more dramatic and desperate to escape.
 I took inspiration from 'home video' thrillers such as the "Paranormal Activity" films when creating a glitch effect on our opening. I felt like it added tension to clips that otherwise, weren't as effective as I wanted them to be. In combination with the music, I think the glitch effects worked incredibly well.
 A problem we had to overcome through editing was the dimensions of our film opening. Originally, our dimensions were 4:3, which meant that when we exported the video and watched it back, there were big, empty columns at the sides. We wanted to fill the entire screen, but if that wasn't possible, we wanted a cinematic effect at the very least. By having the 4:3 dimensions, it meant that our opening neither filler the screen or looked cinematic. I was luckily able to solve this problem by editing the settings of our project, and altering the dimensions to 21:9, which is standard for films. Some cameras filmed in this anyway, but the footage of others had to be transformed to fit the screen, which sometimes resulted in a lower quality clip. We wanted to conform to the cinematic dimensions because it looked for professional, and watching a film opening in an almost square dimension makes it seem like a bit of a joke.
 Another way we conformed to conventions when editing was by using quick cuts. When seeing this in the openings of other films, we realised how efficiently they carried the pace of the film. We also believed that quick cuts helped the audience see from the characters point of view - in a way, it represents blinking, and when you're nervous/anxious, you tend to look around and blink more.
 Another example of conforming to the thriller conventions is by filming in low key lighting, and editing some clips to make them appear darker/less saturated/colder. These elements of mise-en-scene are common trends in thrillers, and when not used, the atmosphere and mood of the piece doesn't seem quite as effective (unless used to contrast movements of the film, such as equilibrium and disruption). An example of this is in the film "Prisoners", whereby the beginning of the film is in high key lighting with saturated, warm clips, representing the equilibrium of the moment. When two children are kidnapped, the lighting, tone and saturation of the piece instantly changes, telling the audience something bad has happened before it's necessarily announced or shown.
 Another film inspired element is our font selection. We wanted to conform to using a font that appeared hand written after watching the opening of "Black Swan",which used a chalk-like font effect.
 A further convention we conformed to was adding in music and sound effects. This added atmosphere to our piece, and made it seem much more professional. Without it, our thriller almost seemed a little boring. By building texture, our piece felt more emotionally stimulating.

Overall, I think by conforming to so many conventions, our film opening can be successfully identified as a thriller. However, by also challenging certain conventions, we've made our film individual, and specific to our target audience, hopefully meaning that we'd be successful when releasing our film.