Evaluation

1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This image still is taken from right at the beginning of our sequence it’s the first shot. We chose to delve straight into using thriller conventions by showing a mysterious and illusive eye, also this lets the audience straight away indentify with the character we deliberately used this shot first to add this effect and show our theme of insanity.  

This still image is from slightly further on in our sequence here you really see a convention of thrillers because of the insane look the character is giving and you’re left wondering why she is like this right from the beginning another trait of thriller films. I also feel this shot shows another convention, the fact that the thrillers are often based around crime and in our case, insanity and murder, this face gives of a sense of crime and that something bad and insane might have happened.

I feel that we have followed traditional thrillers with our soundtrack giving it a suspenseful non-diagetic sound that creates tensions and suspense throughout the sequence we achieved this by using sound effects and clips of different real life sounds that added to the picture in your head, this follows thriller conventions well. We noticed we needed this kind of soundtrack because from our rough cut the audience felt that the sound was quite weak and wasn’t powerful and didn’t really leave them with tension, so we changed it and made it simpler but added clips of real life sounds over the top. The second response from the audience was much more positive.

We used a red filter towards the end of the sequence to show that the mood had changed for the worse. We did this to help the audience realise what she was feeling and her mood of fear.  We also used low key lighting (candles) to create mood and to add to the thriller like feel we had going on throughout the sequence and to create an atmosphere.

We also followed conventions of thriller by using a varied range of shot angles and camera movement to leave the audience pondering on what’s happening and leave them disorientated in their seats. We used shots that could betray the character being watched or being followed maybe emphasising the character being ‘possessed’ a typical thriller like theme. We also used shots that look like it is from the characters points of view letting the audience indentify with her, still connoting her being ‘possessed’. 

This shot is mysterious and also connotes crime which is what the majority of thrillers are about. The blurred edges add to the mystery of the shot and in the film the shot is in slow motion really adding to the question of what the knife was being used for? Knife’s are a big convention of thrillers.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film represents middle-aged woman, we have used this age and social group because it can be done very well and successfully using different types of techniques such as; make-up and hair and the characters body language and the costume they are wearing.

This is the media example of our character, a famous serial killer from America. This is a good example of how we wanted our character to be represented like the combed back and messy hair gives a sense of not caring about looks and not looking after herself. This is also a good choice of personality because we wanted our character to look like a serial killer in the sequence and look insane; we accomplished our target i think. The fact that she is  wearing no make-up and doesn’t look like she has looked after herself really helps represent our character because we were looking for this kind of look to show insanity and dis respect for themselves and that she has no humanity or life left in her this is shown in her dark bags around her eyes and greasy hair.

Not necessarily the look but the gradual turn of the personality of Natalie Portman’s character in the Black Swan really represents our character well, as in the fact that she starts of normal but changes into a different person and almost changes their whole inner identity due to events in the film that have helped make them like this, Natalie Portman’s insane behaviour towards the end of the film relates very well with the persona we are trying the achieve of our character in the opening sequence of our film.

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

I think Universal Studios would distribute our film because they are a big name institution and have films such as “The Unborn” and “The Last House On The Left” which are also thrillers that look to interrogate their audience using mind games and messed up features and effects, they are a mainstream institution and that’s what we would be looking to go into.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The magazine we would use to advertise our film and target our audience would be ‘Empire’ magazine because firstly they are the best selling British film magazine, also we are targeting our film at teenagers and adults of both genders to really widen our audience, I think our film would fit in well with this magazine because it is a best selling magazine and our film wants to be successful like the magazine. This magazine is also publishes in Turkey, Russia, Australia and Portugal giving us a wider market range. The likely audience that would read this magazine would be 16 to 35 year olds hitting the majority of our films target audience because of its 15-certificate rating. The layout colours and fonts on the front cover look to be more for a manly appeal, but this will still attract just general film lovers. The magazine is £4 so as it is newly realized once a month and the target audience being people that could be earning money I think the magazine still caters for a large proportion of the audience we are looking for making it a great choice of magazine for our film to be represented by. It is a mainstream magazine with not a real niche-market for it witch corresponds perfectly with our film as we are looking to go into the mainstream market. Empire has done reviews for films such as ‘se7en’ and ‘Girl with the dragon tattoo’ which our both thrillers that follow the same sort of themes and conventions to our thriller. Empire typically reviews big name films and blockbusters with a high budget, even though we don’t have a high budget as some of these films I think Empire would still review our film due to the popularity of these types of ‘mess with your brain’ thrillers.

Review-

Delirium is a horrifically, spine chilling thriller that teases and tests your brain with every minute that passes. Its shocking, mind bobbling ideas leave you glued to your seat throughout. Delirium stars Trudy Banks (Catherine Morris) a normal stockbroker from London, until a series of never forgetting events haunt her and close friends and relatives for life. Right from the off you lose yourself in the tantalising tension and find yourself stuck into the film the whole way through. The editing techniques and cinematography look to be done by a genius with effects so life like, you forget that they’re not. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the suspense of the film and you lose yourself in it, its quirky effects and sound drops fit in perfectly. Some of the editing and sound effects even left me feeling like I was the character in the film and helped me relate to her whilst I was watching it, the fast heartbeat featured in the soundtrack various times throughout the film mirrored my heartbeat and really made me feel stronger about the film and gave me in depth feelings and opinions about situations happening in the film. The shots that felt like you were staring through the characters eyes were very effective and as a member of the audience it gave me new perspectives on some shots and situations she was in compared to of thrillers of this kind of nature and following these types of conventions. When the red lighting is used is really gives the audience a sense of insanity because of  the different colour being used, this change colour really fits in well with when the characters personality changes and when she takes that step into insanity and it really fits in well.

Delirium overall is a ‘messed up’ film with tantalising parts to it that leave you frozen to your seat with fear. Empire give it a 4 star rating. 

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

We managed to attract our audience using good and popular conventions to a thriller. We tried to add interesting editing techniques that followed thriller conventions and that helped add suspense and a different take on the normal look of each shoot. We also used a non-diegetic soundtrack with various clips of sound such a clock ticking and a heart beat to add to this suspense and keep the audience guessing.

The audience gave feedback on our finished product, they said that we used interesting editing techniques and a range of cinematography, they also liked the fact that the soundtrack had lots of different parts in it and sound effects it kept them interested in the film more and made it seem like a real thriller and made it seem quite frightening, they also really liked the transitions and fade in and outs of the characters face because it helped with identity and made it seem insane and almost like it was a rush of the characters thoughts. They liked the ending more than the rough cut because they had more of an idea to what was going to happen and what was going on.

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

Throughout creating our thriller sequence I have learnt many different technologies whilst constructing and the process of the making the sequence. The two main programs our group used to make our film were Final Cut and Garage band.

Final Cut;

Final Cut is the editing program we used to put our film together and give it the editing techniques and cinematography it has. The first techniques I learnt how to do in Final Cut was time lapse effect we helped achieve this effect by spinning the hand of a clock round slowly at normal speed, then once the clip of it was added to final cut we sped it up and because we had a lot of footage of that particular thing we could make it look like the normal 24 hour day was going really quickly and it gave it a jerky effect. Another thing i learnt in final cut would be giving the edges of the shot a blurred effect this add a frightening and rustic feel that makes the shot seem out of the ordinary and freaky. Another technique I learnt was layering the shots making two shots and adding them together this gives a sense of insanity and helps you indentify with the character.

Garage band;

Garage band is the program we used to create our soundtrack. In garageband I learnt how to fade in out and out the different sound samples to make give them a slow fade in so the sound doesn’t sound so cut and so there isn’t a sharp change in the different sounds. I also learnt how to add our video to our garageband piece so that you knew the timing of when to add the different sound effects so the timing is perfect, and also so we know that the sounds to the background music fit with the images and make so they match the suspensefulness of the film itself. I also learnt how to edit a soundtrack finely so you get every part perfectly to your taste and this would help enhance the visual of the soundtrack. I also learnt how to add downloaded sound samples into our garageband so that we had extra effects so the soundtrack was more effective and interesting. Also I learnt how to make the sound of the clip quieter or louder in order to add more suspense to the sound and so each effect used could be hinted at by the volume of it or be more dramatic.

Equipment;

We used lots of equipment during our filming process. The main bit of equipment being the HD camera which I had previously learnt to use and work properly this time around I just had a better idea of techniques whilst holing the camera and how to create different effects whilst hand holding the camera. We also used a fish eye lens to add a surreal effect and give to audience a new perspective. Another bit of equipment I learnt to use was the voice recorder in which we made our own sound effects for our soundtrack (screaming, moaning, whispering) these were then lost on the computer so we couldn’t use them further. I also learnt how to set up and use the light properly and the coloured filters to go over the top to add a different perspective and make the shot look more insane like.

7.

media question 7 on Prezi

evaluation

2. In my film sequence the main character is an older woman in her forties who is battling with a physiological problem, this problem is due to past events. The social group represented in the sequence is middle aged women. Our character is similar to the character in the 1987 film ‘Fatal Attraction’ where a man who has a family has an affair with a colleague, the colleague is then obsessed by the male character and ends up having lots of physiological problems which lead to lots of terrible events.

This image represents the same social group and also is very similar to the character in our sequence, fed up, mental confliction, on edge and also it looks like she has done something terrible and she is now plagued by guilt. One way the social group we have used and from the film fatal attraction have been represented is as being weak minded and obsessive. Even though events which have occurred are bad and should leave characters guilty should their whole lives come crashing down upon them because of it?

The lady pictured above was a serial killer in the nineties and ended up being executed in 2002. Although her actions and personality do not match exactly to our character, I feel that her appearance is just what we were looking for in representing our character as deranged, psychotic and unstable.

3. I feel that if our film were to be distributed by a company it would be 20^th Century Fox, this is because they are a well known, popular and have experience within the thriller film industry with films such as ‘In time’ (2011) and ‘Chronicle’ (2012).

4. The audience for our film would be all ages but mainly aimed at the older audience 30+ and particularly women (because of the main character, it is relatable) however the film is aimed completely at one audience social group so a male teenager will be able to enjoy the film. I feel that it relates to an older audience easier as it deals with lots of physiological issues which may be hard to understand for a younger audience.

If our film were to be publicised by means of media I think that the best way by using magazine would be to publish a copy ‘Empire magazine’ with our film as the main article/cover page. This publicity would be a great way of advertising as it would reach all of Empire’s established audience from all around the world. This is proven from the company’s slogan “the world’s biggest movie magazine” this is one of the best selling magazines in the world and its reputation is of the highest standard. Any film they publish on the cover page will be known across the world just through this form of media.

Another way in which an article would be good for publicisation would be that the publishers of this magazine have a lot of influence over the audience that read it. Therefore if they write a review about a new film (for example ours) and their critics call it bad and don’t recommend it then the readers of the magazine from all over the world will not go and watch the film/buy it because of what they read. However if they write a positive review then all of the readers will go and watch/buy the film and in this way we would have to be very careful about our film and whilst shooting/editing make sure there is no points that are easy to criticise and will end up making the overall sequence as being bad and amateur. 

If Empire were to include our film in their magazine they would write a review and it would be something like “ After watching the film “Delirium” I feel that I no longer know the way a human mind usually functions, this is partly due to the fact that the main character in this film is having a lot of physiological problems and also partly due to the fact that a lot of the scenes in this film are uncomfortable to watch for me personally as there is a lot of parts which make me feel unstable and insecure about my own way of thinking.

However this film is a good watch and I would recommend it to any of you reading this now, the plot is very simple: an ordinary woman ends up getting in a situation were killing someone saves herself. 6 months down the line she cannot bear the guilt and is plagued by thoughts of what happened, she is about to dive off the cliff of sanity which will no doubtedly end unwell. The main character in this film is portrayed in the opening sequence as being deranged and crazy, the transition into the main body of the film is simply the text “six months later” then for the first section of the film we are shown the lady as she was before this terrible event happened and as a spectator you forget that when you were first introduced to her you thought she was deranged and crazy. You build a relationship with her character and you feel comfortable watching her go about her routine but then it all changes and you ask yourself how would you cope in her situation. A must watch.”

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

I have learnt lots from using different technologies to create the opening sequence. The two main applications I used on the computer to create the sequence were Final cut and Garageband. Without these there would be no video.

Final cut: From using final cut to edit our actual video I have learnt lots of techniques. The first being how to slow down/speed up clips. For example when the camera goes sketchy in the scene where the audience is purposely disorientated I had to speed this up because we had split the clip up into around 100 parts and deleted half of them. This slowed the clip down by half its original time and created the ‘sketchy’ effect.  I also learnt how to add custom text but with a transparent background to create a professional effect. I done this by typing the specified text in on Photoshop (using a chosen, downloaded font) I then deleted all of the white space and saved it as a .png file. This was added to final cut and played over the appropriate clip. After I did this I learnt how to animate the text so that it would appear as the page was turned and look like the text is on one page of the book. One drawback I found with final cut is that it had a very limited number of fonts available and when writing a lot of text it would be very hard to get it all to fit in a small box meaning I would have to condense what I was trying to write. However I did learn how to zoom in on final cut which made editing clips a lot easier because at first I was struggling to find the right moment to edit and it was frustrating to work with.

Garageband: I learnt a lot of techniques from Garageband also. I learnt how to incorporate our video from final cut into Garageband so that creating a soundtrack is a lot easier. This is because we could watch the clip and add sound effects/edit background music whenever necessary. I also learnt how to finely edit the soundtrack by opening a menu which would enhance the visual of the soundtrack allowing me to precisely cut/edit the clip. This was helpful with timings for sound effects/background music. Another technique I learnt from Garageband was how to edit the volume of a clip/track. This was helpful as I could now make certain noises louder than others or increasingly get louder and the main reason so I could fade in/out clips making the whole transition process a lot smoother and comfortable for the audience.

Equipment: We used lots of pieces of equipment when creating this sequence. The main was the HD video recorder which would capture the video + sound of our clip (although the original sound was not used) this video recorder was very easy to use and once we were finished filming we would plug it into the computer and sync it with final cut. We also used the fisheye lens attachment for the recorder  this would created an effect that would look circular to the audience we didn’t get to use this in a final piece which was unfortunate but it was still a new feature for me and I will be using it in the future. Another piece of equipment we used was a voice recorder, we used this to create our own sound effects (screaming, whispering and moaning) these were uploaded to a computer but unfortunately lost or deleted.

Evaluation

1.

Media Thriller Evaluation 2 on Prezi

2.       How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our product represents middle aged women; this is because our main character is part of this particular group. I would compare our character to Natalie Portman’s character in the thriller ‘Black Swan’ where a specific event is taking over her and she starts to turn delusional and insane, which is very similar to the main character in our story. We see her similarly as a character change through her actions and personality due to this insanity. She also fits with our specific social group and shows the same reputation as to ours.

She is wearing a similar style to our character with pale skin and dark eye make-up. She also has the same expression of fear and confusion. Although our character gives off more of an insane image they are both changing in person and we can see in both films how this is happening.

From the media a link to our social group of a real person is Sophie 

Treadwell who has been in newspapers and on TV for a murder. She has the same sort of look as our character, as someone who doesnt really look after herself and has a sad and insane look about her. They both look as though this guilt is eating away at them and is turning them into someone else. 

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


Universal Studios would be our distributor as they are mainstream and have distributed many other thriller films such as 'The strangers' and 'The last house on the left'. They are a popular institution. Also an older audience as our certificate is 15 would appeal to this institution as they distribute a range of older certificate films.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our product would be ‘Empire’ magazine. This is because Empire is the best selling British film magazine and we hope our film would be much of a success to be in the magazine. The audience is aimed at teenagers and adults which links to our target audience. Empire has included reviews from films such as ‘Se7en’ and ‘the girl with the dragon tattoo’, which are both thrillers and follow the conventions similar to ours.  The colour scheme on the front cover is dark connoting it may have a link to thriller films; this also could be connoted from the genre of the films on the front cover. There is a new release of ‘the avengers’ being shown which is an action thriller and also a link to ‘007’ which is also an action thriller. With the colour scheme being quite dark this could attract a male audience, which although isn’t our initial audience, it obviously still appeals to half the audience.  Empire reviews the newest releases and blockbusters and although our film is not massively high budgeted, the magazine still reviews the new releases and would hopefully advertise the film positively. Our opening is still effective without the latest technologies and SFX so hopefully that would be something that Empire would pick up on. Also Empire magazine is priced at £3.99. This means that the target audience is clear to adults and teenagers who have money and not at children. We can tell the magazine is quite mainstream and our audience is mostly appealed to a wide audience rather than the film magazine 'sight and sound' which appeals to a more niche audience.

REVIEW-

I’m still struggling to tame my nightmares after a top class viewing of the latest release ‘Delirium’. The suspenseful, spine chilling thriller left me on the edge of my seat and hiding behind the person next to me at numerous points. The storyline is of a woman being eaten away so badly with guilt she turns insane and believe me with that award winning performance by Catherine Morris I’m left feeling insanity within myself. I was engaged even from the first shot of a close up of an eye twitching. This very powerful opening gave me subtle hints for the rest of the film and may I congratulate the idea of starting the film at the end as this left me with the enigma immediately. The variety of editing techniques left me satisfied and definitely highlighted the main characters emotions and exactly what she would be feeling, especially the layering techniques which really impaired my vision and felt as though I was also going insane.  The music left me with Goosebumps and that immediate thoughts of ‘oh my god! What’s going to happen next’? Just the faint sound of a single heart beat at the beginning of the film made my heart race a few pulses, which as a member of the audience I could identify with the character and almost thought it was my own heart beat.  The range of cinematography never failed on expectations, with close ups and long shots to show expression and body language and panning movement to act as though you were in the characters shoes. Overall a success of a thriller film, it met my expectations, created different emotions within and all in all was very convincing. I just I never have to literally be in her shoes.  Empire rating: 4 stars.                                                                                                                                          

5.. How did you attract/address your audience?

notes- audience agreed our thriller opening was:
 successful at creating a mood, conventional of a thriller as it was very suspenseful and created an atmosphere and it was conventional of an opening as we included credits and titles.

Audience said we had a variety of cinematography, soundtrack was distressing, layering editing was effective as it gave the idea of the character going insane. The time lapse of the clock connoting delusion and transitions were good especially zooming into the face and coming out in her point of view. They said the ending was better than our rough cut and left more of an enigma.
Close ups were used to identify with character and to see clear expression on her face while long shots were used to see body language and her overall appearance.
It is important for real institutions to use audience feedback as it gives them a chance to see what exactly their target audience wants and if it is successful in doing that. It also gives them a chance to change parts if a majority of the audience dont think it works or it hasnt achieved conventions.

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

I have learnt how to use final cut more confidently. While doing the preliminary I only knew the basics for final cut and now we have put a whole nearly 3 minute sequence with a range of techniques included. This is a part of the sequence where we have used the layering technique. This is where we put two shots over each other to give a delusional effect and to connote the character’s insanity. We also faded these shots so they blurred into one shot.

	This is the part of the sequence where we moved to title to fit with the page turning. We used tracking and the header in order to create this effect to fit with the page turning.

 

We also explored garage band further. We had a basic soundtrack throughout however with parts that we layered it sounded effective with the shots. We also downloaded a few sound effects from feesound.org which included a heartbeat and the sound of wind howling. The drawback of using this was that without our editing complete we were unable to make the footage fit with the sound.

We also experimented while filming with the red filter. This was to give a clear contrast and look very powerful to fit with the narrative. We also used a spotlight for our lighting. We noticed how much of a difference it was to use it to create the right mise-en-scene as we made it quite low key and it made our sequence look more professional. We also varied the use of handheld filming to identify with the character and as though the audience was in her head and we also used a tripod to look more professional and easy to watch. 

7.

Media Thriller Evaluation 2 on Prezi

Evaluation

1.

First Prezi on Prezi

2.

2nd Prezi on Prezi

3.    What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Task: Use the www.IMDB.com template to create a page for your film. You will need to fill in all of the blank information.

4.       Who would be the audience for your product?

I feel that ‘EMPIRE’ magazine would be a very suitable magazine to feature reviews of our film, as is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain, consistently outselling its nearest market rival ‘Total Film’ and is also published in Australia, Turkey, Russia and Portugal.

I feel that the covers would mainly attract men, but I think both genders would read the magazine. In my opinion, I think the likely age of people reading this magazine would be between 17 and 30, which is the rough age of our film so it is ideal, however ‘Delirium’ may attract a younger audience also as we rated it a 15. The magazine is priced at £4, so a strong proportion of the audience for this magazine would be middle/upper class. EMPIRE magazine has a bold, appealing front cover that would definitely stand out from a far. It is a monthly issue compact with top headlines and various actors, which is why I think this publication would suit our film review as it is a well known magazine that the general public seek guidance in. It is a mainstream magazine, which is what the psychological  thriller Delirium should also be categorised into. I think our review would be more suitable in EMPIRE rather than another movie magazine, such as 'sight and sound', as I feel that this front cover attracts more of a niche audience, and it doesn't appear to have masses jumping off the page and attracting a mainstream audience, like EMPIRE is.

Delirium is a fast moving, suspense endearing thriller that has recently been released, receiving a four star rating from EMPIRE! The psychological thriller, starring Katherine Morris, takes you on a mind blowing journey to reveal how something so unintended, became the biggest mistake! You kick start with the tension as soon as the ident disappears, as you are met by an intriguing eye that won’t escape from the screen. Awkward, high pitch sounds fill your head while the suspense is killing you to find out what is going on, and why such eccentric behaviour?

This question then becomes more answerable when unimaginable shots of the actress holding her head in distress, screaming with no sound is shown, displaying clear result of insanity. Proceeding clips with her pronouncing through different shots is what makes this film so diverse and thrilling! Probably the greatest achievement of this suspenseful sequence is the variety of lights we see this character in, and how you, as the audience begin to feel involved with her emotions through the techniques used. In my opinion, the insanity is most explicit with the use of sound effects, time lapse and the dangerous look in the famous, Katherine Morris' black eyes. The use of flashbacks in the middle of the sequence makes the audience revel in curiosity,

The colour red in the sequence reflects a series of connotations but which one were the directors trying to achieve? It’s these moments that linger after the film has finished.

As thrilling as it is 'terrifying', Delirium's opening sequence is a MUST SEE, that will not fail to make you question the un-questionable.

5.   How did you attract/address your audience?

 Notes: We attracted/addressed our audience in our opening sequence by;

• Using extreme close-ups to identify her with the audience
• Different colour filter (lighting) to add to the atmosphere
• We used layering to create suspense- the audience liked this effect
• Different angles and camera movement to vary the way the audience see her, and to show her insanity!- Low angle shot looking up at character where she is repeating 'I didn't do it'- addressing the audience of crime/insanity/distress in her head- 
• Also the high angle shot looking down on her, where the camera goes out of focus and she looks up intimidatingly- the audience didn't expect this but really liked the effect it gave
• Our audience also fed back and told us they liked the idea of the flashbacks and how we made them look and bult them in to our sequence.
• They preffered our final cut final to the rough cut they saw as they suggested that it was slightly confusing, so we changed this and they aggreed that it looked a lot more like an ending to a title sequence
• We addressed our audience with our ident (to a graphic match shot) and our titles

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

         Final cut express-   I discovered how to move the sequence all together by highlighting it all and dragging it if a clip was deleted instead of doing it one by one. Also how to use transitions effectively!  With Final cut, we were able to re-arrange the filming into a different order on the computer to what we took on the day. I learnt how to blur the edges,  layer effectively, and on top of this how to time lapse certain clips in our sequence. We also removed frames for extra effect so we were showed how to do this by zooming in on the timeline, and cutting the clip up! This effect made a huge difference to our opening sequence.

       Garageband-  I leant how to crop the song, so it fitted with the shots in the opening sequence, also if it wasn’t long enough, to double up! On top of this I learnt how to fade out songs/effects. We was also showed  how to add the final cut video into garageband so it was easier to edit.

        Equipment- With our thriller we  needed the lighting to be effective so I was therefore introduced to different lighting equipment and filters which we was showed how to mantle.  The filters were interesting to experiment with as I now know what looks good in different genres on characters faces through our lighting test.

7.

Third Prezi on Prezi

screen grabs

this is the location of our film is here