Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

This is a mind map created about question 6 relating to technologies. You are able to zoom in on the map and move about to see specific sections. If this does not load then there is a read only copy of this post available at https://bubbl.us/?h=29a4e4/53fcf8/27.MRmfFeayT.&r=333566210

Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

Schedule

Beach Scenes

November 29th 10:00am - 11:00am

• Establishing shot pans down of the beach. (Carl & Jade) 
• Pan across of the waves rolling in. (Carl & Jade) 
• Crane shot up of the victim being dragged along the shoreline. (Carl & Jade) 
• Close up of the Victim's feet. (Carl & Jade) 
• Longshot of the victim being dragged along the beach. (Carl & Jade) 
• POV of the victim drowning in the sea. (Jade) 

House Scenes

December 5th 7:00pm - 8:00pm

• Establishing shot pans down of the party. (Jade, Theo, Jake)
• POV of the man looking at the teenagers party. (Jade, Theo, Jake)
• POV of the victim unknowingly looking at the antagonist. (Theo, Jake, Carl)
• Close up of the victims feet dancing. (Jade)
• Two shot of antagonist kidnapping victim (shadows). (Jade, Carl)
• Over the shoulder shot of victim being placed in the boot of a car. (Jade, Carl) 
• POV of victim in boot seeing the antagonist shut it. (Carl)

Storyboard

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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

There are many Distribution companies that solely distribute thrillers. Depending the size of the company determines what type films will be distributed. A larger distribution company is more likely to distribute a film produced by 'The Big Six' (e.g. Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox), compared to an independent film company such as ourselves.

When it comes to distributing my thriller there are many alternative ways in which I can do so. Through the help of modern technologies it has made it easier for first time film-makers and other people to get their product noticed. Wither interfaces online such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo etc. it allows people throughout the world to watch media without the actual need for any 'true' distribution methods. Other alternatives would include going to film festivals and promoting the thriller there via previews on a big screen or speaking with distribution companies.

Firstly to get publicity I could start up a fan base on Facebook with teaser trailers, this way you can generate interest and attention. This service is free and simple to manage. It also allows you to collect analytics of the people who look at your content you post. It allows the audience to answer questions and also speculate about the thriller before actually releasing it.

Secondly to distribute the product I believe one of the best ways to get a film out to audiences is most likely through YouTube or Vimeo as these services are easy to upload and are at no charge for uploading the content onto the website which is useful for a company which are trying to release with a rather small budget. The useful link system on this service means that I can enter relevant 'keywords' to the video so that people who do a search with those words it will appear, this can include word such as "Hightide" "Thriller" "Horror" "Short Film" etc. which would then link to the movie clip. You could also include more generalised words such as "Norfolk" which is the location of the film as people who like the area might be interested in watching something based in that location. With YouTube I can also add a description of the video so that people can understand background information including a brief synopsis of the film and credits. A useful feature of these platforms is that though social media and comment options on Vimeo/ YouTube it allows people to voice their feedback what's good about the film and what could be improved about it. This is very good for preparing a better thriller (i.e. final cuts) which can then go further to distribution companies. Although there are some issues to do with this format of promotion as there is no real way to make profits from the product. If I was to go the route fully launching Hightide on to YouTube then the only revenue possible would be though adverts on the video beforehand. Plus if there was to be the whole feature online (Vimeo) for free where anyone could access it then virtually no one would go out and actually purchase it for real. 

A second way I looked at getting my film distributed is through hugely successful multi-corporation companies such as Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures etc. getting interest from one of these big companies would mean the film would be distributed globally and appear in cinemas/ DVD's sold in countries all around Europe as well as across the USA. There would also be no need to create a fan base prior to distribution as people are more likely to go and see a film produced by a popular company such as Universal as oppose to an independently released film. The downside to this method is that by going down this route the companies are unlikely to produce a film which will not guarantee them a large profit. In addition to this the people making the film are 'amateurs' not well known casts or locations.

The better idea to distribute the film to the target audience would be though a professional distribution company. It would not be possible to distribute our own film as this would be too costly and also requires contacts and experience, something which as a first time film maker I would not have.

Finally, an alternative to having the thriller distributed professionally would be promoting the film at festivals such as the BFI Film Festival or Aesthetica Short Film Festival which shows short films, this would be beneficial as it would get the film noticed. Going down the British Film Industry route would be beneficial as they are funded by big American film companies. This backing from the US gives the BFI a budget each year of £117 million to spend on films to be funded which would otherwise struggle on their own. To be part of this the film has to have a British crew, feature mainly British actors, set & located in Britain, have a British director and overall the film must be representative of a British society. My thriller Hightide would meet all these requirements and therefore would be allowed to join funding from the BFI.

Overall it would be the best option to distribute the film independently. Initially launching the film via social media for advertisements then move on to touring different film festivals in the UK promoting the thriller. Then if there is good feedback from that I could then release it to small cinema companies such as Cinema City (in Norwich) which show small independent films companies products. If funding from the BFI was not successful for distortion then simply to get my film noticed as profit would not necessarily by the objective (some income could be collected from adverts on the video).

Influences on Gender

Gender

In our thriller opening we included three male characters and one female. Following Propp's character types, we stereotypically used a male villain. This is used in almost every thriller, examples are the James Bond films and the Dark Knight Trilogy that all contain a villain that is of the male sex. The Bane in Batman is seen as very muscular and powerful over the other characters due to his physical build which we have attempted to replicate by using an actor who is much bigger than our victim.Another convention our opening scene met is the typical 'damsel in distress' type character, being the female victim. This links to the 2008 film Taken which also features a teenage girl as the 'Princess', relating to Propp's character types. She is very weak and is kidnapped within the first few minutes of the film and the character is vulnerable as there are only two teenage girls and no males.

The technique of displaying the female as inferior to the male antagonist is common across many films in the thriller genre. We have incorporated this into our feature, we used specific camera angles, such as two-shots and low- angled shots to portray the girl as the smaller character in comparison to the man. More specifically, we used the shadows of the two characters as this allowed us to present the antagonist looming above the victim and the girls shadow disappears as his shadow engulfs her. Also, as the antagonist drags her along the beach, he is hunched over her like a predator dragging away their prey.

Another feature we incorporated into our thriller was keeping the male character as mysterious and unidentified for as long as possible. We did this by choosing the antagonist to wear a hoodie which meant his face could be covered. It is very common in thrillers for masks to be used and in general for the villain's identity to be kept hidden, an example of this is the beginning of The Dark Knight. Although the intention was to make sure that the audience was aware this was a male antagonist type character. We displayed this by the use of camera angles portraying him as more powerful than the female victim and all the others in our film. Therefore this is why we have been influenced to use a male character for this villain role as it is not only stereotypical but it is also easier in terms of showing him as the most intense character.

During the party scenes there is still only one female character shown, this furthers the idea of her being alone and defenceless and displays the authority of male characters in our thriller. An example of this method is in the recently released 'The Boy Next Door' which is also known for displaying a vulnerable female role. This proves that is it very common for thrillers to use the technique and leads to why we were influenced into including it in our thriller opening scene.

Thriller Final Cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F89KqpSgsUk
Here is our final cut of our Media AS thriller opening scene. Created by Russell Dewing, Theo Durban & Jake Craske. See also my contribution to the group post.

My contribution to the group

In our group to produce the thriller I was the main cameraman and filmed the party locations choosing the angles & shots which would work best for the lighting we had. With most work it was a decision between the three of us; when it came to choosing sound though, Theo made the main track we all decided on which other sound effects should be included such as the use of diegetic sound on the beach scenes (for example). Editing was split three ways and we all contributed to different parts of the editing process taking it in turns.

My role was mainly graphics animation & design. I created the logo production company as well as the animation of the credits and the creation of our Hightide logo with the 'faded drop in' movement animation though the use of software called Live Type.


For the creation of the production logo I used Adobe Illustrator CS6 as it was more professional software as oppose to alternatives such as Fireworks. 

For more details about how they were designed and made click the icons below.

Click here to see how the Higtide Logo was designed

Click here to see how we designed WaterFront Productions Logo

Design of Hightide movie logo & animation

The use of the black and white title is simple and bold, it is a binary opposite of our production company which is more complex. The colours contrast and stand out on the screen as it is thew only thing that the audience concentrates on. The animation of the logo fits in with the noise in the scene as it appears in a sweeping motion as though it is being washed up on to a beach relating to the story, production company and the most potent scene in the opening title.

Design of our production company logo

Waterfront Productions

These graphics below are initial designs for our production company logo WaterFront Productions. The idea was to fit in with the idea of the movie name Hightide as our thiller is set in a coastal environment, but then we attempted to add connotations of a thriller/ horror theme to the font this includes the colour used as well. We researched and experimented with colours typically used for movies of the thriller/ horror genre. 

This we decided would be the basis of our logo as it connotates the coastal theme, however the colours were too bright and fonts which seemed to formal. Blue connotates health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness which would not be appropriate for the material in our story, it would suggest that out film was more children's fantasy than thriller.

This one was an improvement as the colours were darker and high contrast making it stand out. It has a paranormal theme to the logo of the wave however the font still was too fancy/ formal. The ghostly theme was created using the brush tool on  Adobe Illustrator CS6.

With this design we focused mainly on the font where we gave the logo a worn out grunge theme making it more appealing and more noticeable as a thriller/ horror movie production company. It looked as though it was scratched onto a black background making it seem slightly eerie.

This is our final design of WaterFront Productions. As you can see we changed the colours of the  font to a bright red representing blood, power and gives it masculine qualities. The letters are designed to look fractured and scratched. The 'F' is broken off and it is as though the person writing the letter 'S' has been dragged off when it continues almost off of the page. The wave logo denotes water and drowning making people feel uneasy and consumed by the words. The wave could also be represented as a streak of blood across the logo to emphasise the horror sub-genre.

Thriller Rough Cut

HIGHTIDE - Thriller rough cut version (watch in 1080p for best quality). Created by: Russell Dewing, Theo Durban & Jake Craske.

Use of Colour

Screenshot showing the character in the yellow
hoodie foreshadowing the death of the victim.

Use of shadows to this scene more
mysterious, it adds to the enigma of the storyline.

Use of saturated colours to make the shot
more vibrant.

Desaturated camera shot at the beach. The black and
white references the US Thriller Psycho. 

In the production of our thriller we decided to effectively use colour for impact. The use of colour is representative of the main character's life. To begin with the scene at the party we saturated the bright colours in shot to make it vibrant and alive. This gave the idea of strobe lighting as well as making the actors stand out (in contrast) to the pitch black background in that scene. This scene with the bright colours is designed to represent the life of the victim which at this time is complete and radiant. We used colour thorough the costumes of our characters. One of the friends in the party scene are wearing a yellow hoodie-style jumper. We used him to portray future events of the main character. This colour connotates happiness, joy and energy (reflective of the protagonist) however this colour also represents caution and warning which foreshadows her untimely demise later on in the scene. 

The variation shot of this is at the beach scene where we adapted the use of black and white shots from the 1960's thriller Psycho. In this film although it is in black and white it relies on other things to suggest elements of the story to the audience. it was from analysing the famous shower scene that we got the inspiration of referencing this great film. For these angles on the beach we desaturated all colours from the picture making it seem incomplete, vacant as this is where the audience will see the victim being dragged along the beach, the use of colour is representative of the victims life, when it flashes between the two narratives the absence of colour shows that she has gone.

The desaturated shots are unconventional as typically they show events in the past, however, with our thriller it in fact represents the present (the morning after the party).

Along with colour (again taking inspiration from Psycho) we decided to use shadows to add tension to the scene. In the shot where the victim is being taken by the villain we use the shadows to show him creeping up on her keeping the identity a mystery which is an enigma which could be followed throughout the whole film.

Camera Types

We used a GoPro to film all of our thriller because it allowed us to film in 1080p which is much better quality than the cameras given to us by the College and colours will be much more vibrant when needed and the scenes where we filmed at night should be much crisper. The specific model is a GoPro Hero 3+ with a variety of accessories, for example a waterproof case, extendable arm, chest mount and tripod. These allowed us to film using a variety of camera angles and movements which the normal cameras could not achieve.

Being able to use the GoPro in the sea was very important as we could create a sequence of POV shots under the surface of the water and then bring the camera above it to create the effect of drowning. Also, a wave crahses into the camera and then fades to black to emphasise the end of the sequence which couldn't of been done with a normal camera. These scenes make our thriller opening sequence unique compared with the other groups and the ocean theme is popular in many thriller films for example Jaws (see setting inspiration) which is explained in a different post.

Influences For Setting

We have used a variety of themes, props and costume from other thriller films to insure that our opening sequence is as good as it can be and our audience are going to enjoy it. By doing this, our thriller opening scene looks more professional and more people are going to want to watch it. Firstly, we used the coast as one of our two main settings which is surprisingly common in thriller films. For example, in Inception, the main protagonist washes up on the beach out of no where showing how the ocean is mysterious and uncontrollable. Also, it shows the edge of land and if you look out to sea, you can see nothing. This links to how it is mysterious but it could be argued that the ocean is a force out of our control and it cannot be tamed. Another reason we used the coast was because it is common in thrillers to have a dead body wash up on the beach and we attempted to replicate part of this by having our victim thrown into the sea.

Another film which uses the ocean as a main setting is Shutter Island but this is due to it enclosing the characters and trapping them onto the island with no escape. The high cliffs and large waves are seen with long shots out to sea showing how there is no escape and no life around. By showing the waves lapping over the camera and it then dipping under waves, our audience feel the same entrapment as the camera angle could be a POV of the victim drowning. Also, a long shot pans across the beach showing the high cliffs and this makes the audience feel scared as they are much taller than the characters, trapping them in with no escape due to the sea being on one side and the cliffs being on the other.

The last thriller film which encouraged us to use the coast and mainly the sea as a setting was the film Jaws, made in 1975. Basing parts of our thriller around older, classic thrillers widens our audience and classic thrillers such as Jaws and Psycho contain very different, simplified themes compared to the modern thriller films. Also, they are filmed in a very different way which is interesting as it allows the audience to compare these films of different times. In Jaws, the antagonist is a shark which is non-stereotypical yet works very well as you never really fully see it yet the audience can sense its presence due to factors such as sound and lighting. But more specifically, they have used the ocean as a main theme as the antagonist is hidden in it linking to how there are hidden dangers and evil things lurking below the surface. In our thriller, we have attempted to give the ocean connotations of mystery and incredible power as the victim is drowning on show to the audience who can do nothing about it. One of the scenes in Jaws shows loads of children running out of the sea as someone has been bitten by a shark. The audience feel the urge to help all of the struggling children who could die however it is physically possible.

Use of sound

Inspiration:

This is the soundtrack we created for our thriller opening sequence which was influenced by music from Batman the Dark Knight composed by Hans Zimmer. We used Garageband to compose what we believe is a typical thriller backing track. We based it on the Bank Heist music from The Dark Knight because it was a very eery and added tension to the scene in certain areas. For example, the camera zooms to a glass building and the audience are expecting something to happen and then one of the windows smashes. Even, when you watch it again you are trying to locate the right window. My music is very similar throughout, as different sounds have been combined to create a constant droning with some added sci-fi themed noises to break the tension. The soundtrack is the only sound that is apparent in my film and this makes it very effective as there is a party going on, however the music is very tense and mysterious to foreshadow evil and death.

Other sound effects including the car boot slam and the waves at the beach were also done on Garageband. We found lots of different sounds which fitted into our opening sequence and then applied them. It allows the audience to feel like they are more engrossed in the sequence and due to the non-existent dialogue, these new sound effects are a welcome break from the backing track. For example, the tension is broken when the boot is slammed shut and the antagonist walks away, which is the first time you see his face fully. Also, the addition of the sounds from the coast add to the realism of the sequence as the audience think it is more believeable.

Use of sound:

Non-diegetic sound is important in our thriller opening sequence because it builds tension throughout the duration of the scenes with added emphasis on specific shots which are more important than others. For example, when the boot shuts on the victim there is a deep echoing 'thump' that conveys the protagonists entrapment. Also, another use of emphasis is the medium shot where shadows are used to denote the victims capture. It sounds similar to water being sucked away as the antagonist approaches the victim and this adds tension to the scene, meaning the audience know that it is important to the storyline. Then, after the credits have appeared, a sudden distorted synth sounds which is quite unnerving as the audience see the victim drop below the surface of the water for a final time conveying her death and the end of the sequence.

Diegetic sound is also important in our thriller due to it being significant sounds which the characters can hear. A good example of this is the noise of the sea which is paramount to the rest of the title sequence. Secondly, the tension is at its highest point during the POV shot of the victim drowning amongst the waves because it shows her struggle and the fact that the audience are unsure if she is dead or not. Furthermore, the music ends abruptly presenting the disturbance of the equilibrium and her possible death.

Secondary Research - British Film Industry

In addition to primary data which I collected and analysed from my questionnaire analysis and research I have also decided to do some secondary research on the BFI regarding the Thriller genre. This research is collected from the BFI website statistical data. This is a use of secondary data to see which films genres are most popular as recorded by the BFI themselves. 

Going first of all by gender I have fount from the BFI's statistics  that "A wide range of genres appealed to women, whereas action films, comedies and thrillers were popular with men". Therefore this suggests that for a thriller movie opening it would pay off to be more male orientated since it is one of the top 3 most popular genres for males. 

In Figure 11.4 it shows you the overall breakdown for the percentage of sales collected by each genre as a whole. The most popular genres (as expected) are Action/ Adventure, Comedy and Dramas with over 60% of the total sales for 2013. Thriller is the 5th most popular genre in the table with 8.3% of sales in terms of movies released for that year. 

My second screenshot in Figure 4.1 we are looking at specifically 'films in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre' (2013) gross by the box office. In this table thriller and thriller movies are ranked much lower than the sales breakdown. Most popular films in this instance were animation films (Despicable Me 2) making £246.6 million that year. For the UK box office thrillers were ranked place 12 with a gross profit of £29.1 million and the top performing film as Prisoners. This is because genres such as animation, action and comedies have alot more appeal to the younger and family groups, they are a much more 'all round' genre which everyone will enjoy as oppose to the thriller genre which is stereotypically more of a masculine genre. 

Psycho Scene Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4

Screenshot from the point at which the audience can
see the figure of the murderer in the shower curtain.

Most noticeable is the effective use of non-deigetic sound for this scene i.e. the backing track which characters cannot hear.  To begin with the sound is calm and in a state of equilibrium when the woman is writing a letter. This then starts to change and distort when she enters the shower, it continues to change as the viewer can begin to see the shadow of the murderer in the shower curtain. The sound completely changes when the curtain opens and villain is shown, it goes to a sharp high pitched striking sound, it is the audio representation of the knife which the murderer is using. The use of this non-diegetic sound is to keep the audience in suspense for the whole scene making them feel unsettled and convey a sense of disequilibrium (Todorov's Narrative Theory). Once the murderer had killed the victim and left the apartment the music then begins to return to the original state of equilibrium as the tension has passed. Since there is no dialogue in the scene the clip relies totally on sounds & it's famous backing track.

The use of the weapon (knife) adds to the effect of the scene. With it being a manual weapon it gives more effect to the scene by adding suspense, 'will the character manage to fight back?' It also gives us the silhouette of the murder from when he opens the shower curtain, shocking the audience, this would not have the same dramatic climax if the weapon of choice was a gun.

Close up shot of the villain, his face is hidden in
the shadows to add mystery to the scene.

There is also a use of black and white to connotate who is good and evil. It is clear from the use of shadows who is the villain character (according to Propp's Character Types). It is clear from the scene that the woman is the victim. Even when he pulls the shower curtain you cannot see his true identity as his face is hidden from the light, by doing this is gives him an element of mystery,  it allows the viewers to be held in suspense as to who he could be.

Close up shot typically used to convey emotion of
the character.

The use of camera angles is additionally a key aspect of the scene. The use of the high angle of the woman when she is in the shower signifies her as the victim. A high angle shot is used to make the character in view appear vulnerable, it can also foreshadow that there will be a disturbance of the narrative. The other camera angle which is significant is towards the end of the scene where there is a use of an extreme close up as the camera then pans away to show her face. This use of a close up is to convey emotion (i.e. fear) to the audience, it suggests to them that the character is dead without actually saying or showing any gore.

Scene Analysis - Bank Robbery Scene - The Dark Knight (2008)

Chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0

In the bank robbery scene from The Dark Knight there is a large use of Mise-en-scene to convey the characters in shot. It shows who is good and who is bad.

This extract expresses Mulveys theory of 'Male Gaze' in the sense it is from a heterosexual male's point of view, it is from the point as if the viewers are one of the bank robbers. By doing this is will hugely appeal to the target audience through the use of Mise-en-scene as it's conventions of character and storyline primarily will target young/ middle ages men. This can be expressed though their use of over the shoulder shots and long shots. This conforms to not only the thriller genre but to how media is represented in general. 

The use of setting is stereotypical for a film of the thriller genre. The urban setting is used highly as it's immediate connotations are that a city is busy and full of action; very popular among crime thrillers, such as the Dark Knight. A similar film which use this kind of location of effect would be Jake Reacher. Additionally making a bank scene the primary location of the film immediately conveys character types, it is obvious that the masked men are bank-robbers i.e. the 'bad guys'.

The use of the masks in this scene is highly effective and alternatively ironic. By having a clown mask for such a task as robbing a bank it unusual and in some cases 'funny'. This is not something you would expect from people robbing a bank as they are hidden but also stand out. It also adds a sense of enigma to the scene as we do not know who is behind the faces. We assume from the use of hidden identity and their reckless behaviour that they are the villains according to Propp's character types. People who are familiar with the Dark Knight movies may identify the characters to a villain as henchmen from their costume.

Continuing with the costume of the villains they are all wearing similar purple suits. This is to help identify they are with the villain (purple being the Joker's iconic colour). Purple connotates Wealth, Money, riches, royalty, all things which link in with the style of robbers (i.e. the Joker's theme). Additionally it symbolises  power, mystery and ambition all things which link to that particular villain. The colour purple is a very rare colour in nature; some people consider it to be artificial, maybe suggesting that not everything is as it initially seems.

Generally there is Masculine theme, they are primarily male characters in the scene and are armed with guns as well as explosives; the guns represent power and authority by the masked villains. Again this will appeal to the audience as these movies are watched to see characters such as criminals and their perception of the law. People watch film such as the Dark Knight as they get a sense of a side of life they do not ordinarily experience additionally they enjoy seeing people being brought to justice especially by a vigilante type character such as Batman (the hero).

As this is early on in the film there is a use of the backing track to create an atmosphere of equilibrium - according to Todorov's narrative structure. However the music is also a ticking noise which suggests that something is about to happen, it is used to create a source of tension so that the viewers of the film are being pro-active to see what is going on in the city. The use of diegetic sound i.e. the breaking of glass represents the disturbance in equilibrium  as it is where the tone of the film changes. It goes from a state of equilibrium to disequilibrium and ultimately chaos. We can tell this from the change in the sound of music and that the camera diverts from introducing the city to following the story of the bank robbers.