In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In my final media product, we used, developed and challenged the generic codes and conventions seen in real media products of the thriller genre and action-thriller sub-genre. Through research into current thriller films, such as James Bond and The Bourne Trilogy, we were able to gain an insight into how the camera is used in combination with the mise-en-scene, sound and editing to make the piece effective and engaging. For example, a frequent shot type used in action-thrillers is LS, as this emphasizes the vast locations that are common as an action-thriller setting. Additionally, action-thrillers nearly always have some form of chase scene, so the pace of editing tends to quicken to make the chase more exciting to watch (See blog post 'Finally Up – Tracker – Final Cut' - 1:32). By examining the use of the typical conventions, we were able to incorporate them into our own work to create a professional piece.
Furthermore, we followed the typical convention of having the hero dressed in smart attire to reinforce his importance. Generally, the villain / henchman type characters are commonly featured in more casual dress, so we decided to feature our antagonist in less smart clothes, but still fairly formal.
Our use of sound also sticks to the common conventions of thrillers. Thriller movies tend to have slow, low hey music that slowly pick up pace to build tension and engage the audience. By including such music, we were able to make the footage much more tense and interesting to watch. Additionally, we were able to represent the divide between characters through are, extremely limited, use of dialogue. We decided to take our most diegetic sound so the audience is able to focus purely on the footage and non-diegetic music to make it more engaging. However, at one point, we decided to add a small section of diegetic dialogue (see blog post ‘Finally Up – Tracker – Final Cut – 2:02’) that shows our antagonist cursing. Stereotypically, cursing is more common with lower class, less educated people. So by showing our character cursing we are able to reinforce the difference in social status between the two characters.
However, we also chose to challenge a certain convention typical of real media products in order to try and make our own product unique. Generally, the main characters in action-thrillers are mostly male Caucasians, in their early thirties. However, we decided to challenge this convention by casting a younger, Asian male to add a sense of diversity to our film. The effect of this being that it will generate intrigue amongst our target audience as it is out of the norm. Additionally, we made sure that the audience registered our protagonist as a main character by editing it in such a way so he has more screen time over all. By having longer shots of the protagonist in comparison to the antagonist, we were also able to show his dominance, importance, and superiority over his tracker.
As we chose to mostly use the generic conventions of action-thrillers, the audience is able to immediate establish the sub-genre that our film fits into. Our choice of location is also a typical convention seen in the sub-genre of action-thriller. Most action-thrillers choose to feature city landscapes that promote a business / work like atmosphere in order to represent importance, social status, and the business aspects to things such as villainy (drug empires, illegal gambling, etc…). This is why we decided to film in a business / city like setting, as it suits the characters lifestyle. Furthermore, by featuring things such as a train station (a common choice in action-thrillers as an escape route), we again were able to represent that our film was of the action-thriller sub-genre.
This is beneficial as it allows the audience to have a brief insight into what the film may feature, meaning they can base whether they view it or not on solely their opinion of the sub-genre.
How does your product represent particular social groups?
For my thriller opening, I followed very typical representations that coincide with the up-market setting of Gerrards Cross. As the location has a direct link to London through the train network, it produces a very business like atmosphere. This meant that the characters in my opening had to appear as if they would thrive in such an environment, so we reinforced this with the mise-en-scene. For our protagonist, we decided to feature him wearing a simple black suit and white shirt, and a leather jacket, much like something worn in the work place. The black of the suit also connotes mystery, which is important as it coincides with the narrative, whilst the leather jacket is common with the ‘bad-boy’, aggressive image. We also had him carry a briefcase as this is common with businessman. For our other character, we kept with the smart attire but had it much more casual to suggest that he is inferior to the protagonist. However, we kept the connotations of black, to continue the element of mystery within the narrative.
The use of camera also helps to establish the stereotypical representation of male dominance. The combination of low-angle shots and CU’s of the characters help to create a sense of superiority and importance, which is common with males in action-thrillers. Furthermore, the use of camera to make the characters seem more superior matches the choice of costume to promote the greater sense of masculinity, as suits are linked with middle-aged, powerful males.
This coincides with our target audience (young to middle-aged males) as they expect to see men viewed as superior. We achieved this through the use of camera angles making the characters appear larger and more dominant, for example, a tilt shot we used to show the antagonist straighten up from his chair (see blog post ‘Finally Up – Tracker – Final Cut – 1:00 – 1:08’).
In addition to this, the location also helps to reinforce the class and social background of the characters. Stereotypically, the main characters of action-thrillers (such as James Bond) are fairly wealthy, so the location helps to establish this as Gerrards Cross is an expensive place to live.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We made our media product with the intention that it would be distributed as a major Hollywood film. This is because of the simple fact that Hollywood has produced a vast amount of action-thriller that have been big hits, making them masters of the sub-genre. Additionally, with successes in the action-thriller genre such as James Bond and The Bourne Trilogy, there is a huge audience for our type of film, meaning large media institutions will be interested.
A good example of a media institution that could distribute our product is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). They are an extremely well established company, with many film successes including the famous James Bond franchise. After producing a wide range of successful action-thrillers, they have a high level of experience within the sub-genre meaning that they could produce ours and distribute our product on a global scale for maximized profit.
The reason our film could be released is because like the James Bond franchise, the action-thriller genre offers many merchandising opportunities. The style of our film, being action / espionage, already has a huge presence in the toy industry due to the younger generation being more intrigued by violence and action, with many children wanting to live the ‘hero’ lifestyle. By creating toys that such as action figures and copies of props from the films (toy guns, gadgets, etc…), a huge profit could be made.Additionally, official collectables / memorabilia could be sold to satisfy the niche market of collectors. These products could be of higher quality / value in comparison to the toys, and could also vary in rarity, meaning more money could be made as specialized collectors expect to pay more money for a higher quality, more realistic product. This would again persuade media institutions to distribute our product as it would generate a further profit.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The intended target audience for my media product is mainly males, aged from 15 years onwards, simply because of the complex nature of the narrative. Action-thrillers tend to appeal more to males as the majority of films feature a high-level of violence, which stereotypically attract more of a male audience. After thorough research into the sub-genre, it was evident that it attracts males of late teens and onwards as they prefer to watch films with action and violence, and as our thriller incorporates such things we were able to efficiently judge our who our audience would most likely be. Additionally, unlike other successful films in the action-thriller sub-genre such as James Bond and the Bourne Trilogy which are certified 12, we made our film with the intention of it being a 15 certificate (see blog post Thursday, 27 November 2008 – Film Certificates – 15 or 18?) as it allows us to include much more violence, bad language and generally a more mature plot to make a more enjoyable film. Also, as the members of our group and myself are in this age category ourselves, we know what to include in a film certified 15, as we watch them first hand.
Although the characters featured appear to be of middle class, and Gerrards Cross as a location is associate with the middle class, it’s not only the middle-class that our media product will appeal to. Research proved that the working class enjoy action-thrillers due to them normally including elaborate stunts, high-tech gadgets and fight scenes (much like James Bond) which introduce them to an intense, exciting lifestyle.
By following the codes and conventions of the action-thriller genre, we were able to create a familiar form of narrative that would appeal to our target audience. For action-thrillers, this means excitement, mystery, and complexity to keep the audience engaged.
How did you attract / address your audience?
To attract our target audience, we had to first consider what appeals to them most, and then feature it in our media product. By doing this we were ensuring that the audience will remain engaged throughout the entire opening. We decided to include a great sense of mystery in our film in terms of plot, as we knew this would intrigue the audience and keep them interested. Doing this required great consideration in terms of mise-on-scene and camera. For example, we featured POV shots (see blog post ‘Finally Up – Tracker – Final Cut’ - 1:35-1:37) so the audience could gain the perspective of the characters and make them feel more engaged with the developing narrative.
Additionally, we featured our characters in black which connotes mystery, so that coincides with what we were trying to achieve. Another aspect of mise-en-scene that helped to promote a sense of mystery was the choice of the key prop, the briefcase. The prop helps to reinforce the protagonists social status as the briefcase is an item carried mostly by businessman, as well fits the specification of a spy (carrying top secret documents). This again intrigues the audience to watch out film as they want to find out exactly what he has in the briefcase, and whether the reason he is being followed has anything to do with its contents.
Furthermore, the music chosen helped to build and sustain the tension to help keep the audience engaged. The way in which it slowly builds up, with crescendos for dramatic effect helps to entertain as well as make the chase more exciting and intense. The effect of including little dialogue is that it allows the audience to focus more on the use of camera to tell the story, combined with the tense music.
The choice of setting, which is much like a city, would also appeal to our target audience. Firstly because the city-type environment is common to thrillers,, the audience becomes easily familiar with the setting. Secondly, Gerrards Cross is a location that some people may be familiar with personally, making them excited to see it because of its familiarity. The lighting also helps to attract the audience, with an obvious contrast at certain points throughout the piece. For example, the café scene (see blog post ‘Finally Up – Tracker – Final Cut ‘– 0:30-1:18), whereby our protagonist is featured sitting out in the open, with only natural light, represents that he is comfortable and calm. Whereas the antagonist is featured inside the café which is very dimly lit, suggesting that he is more sinister in comparison.
The editing of the opening is kept fairly slow paced throughout, coinciding with the slow, tense non-diegetic music. As the music quickens pace, the footage is edited to match in order to make the narrative more engaging and exciting. This would appeal to our audience as it makes our opening more typical of a conventional thriller, or more specifically, action-thriller.
By combining these different aspects to create a more engaging piece, we were able to ensure that our target audience would find our film appealing, and remain engaged throughout.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Over the duration of making my final media product, I was introduced to different technologies; some which were familiar to me, some which were not. My knowledge of how to use the camera effectively and professionally has increased vastly, allowing me to film high quality footage. The cameras used were efficient for the task, even though they had the tendency to auto-focus when it wasn’t needed, ruining a few of the shots. Looking back at our preliminary continuity task, my knowledge of how to use and set the camera up is now significantly better, with me now being able to film a variety of shots ranging from simple long shots to things such as pan and tilt shots.
One problem faced was issues with lighting. Due to a limited budget and equipment, some shots were difficult to obtain as we were shooting outside, making the lighting incredibly unpredictable and almost impossible to manipulate. With more advanced equipment, I feel that the overall quality of our product would have been increased as shots would have been clearer, sound better, and lighting more effective.
To edit our opening, we used a wide range of Adobe software, including Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Flash CS3. Adobe Premier Pro acted as the main piece of editing software in which we ordered shots, adjusted timing and added sound. This specific piece of software was incredibly efficient at editing our opening as it includes many advanced features that help to make the final piece look exactly how we intended. For our titles, we used Adobe After Effects as it includes a wide range of features to help create professional looking work. Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Flash CS3 were only used to make the individual titles for our cinema (New Focus) and production (Worthwhile) companies.
Looking back to your preliminary tasks, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The progression made from the initial, preliminary task to the final product is quite substantial. The preliminary task required little planning and was very limited in terms of skill, however, the basic skills gained from the preliminary task allowed further development when producing my final piece. Organizing the production of my project required a lot of time and consideration in order for me to be able to produce the best piece of work I could. In the beginning stages, it was hard to comprehend exactly how to start such a project as I didn’t have any previous experience, however, as with anything in which you have little knowledge, research is always important. I viewed and analyzed current thriller openings in order to gain an insight in what to expect from an opening. This then allowed me to brainstorm my own, original ideas for my own media product, and then decide upon one final idea which I would storyboard.
In the early planning stages, my group intended to have a complex chase scene, with a group of people following the actors instead of just the one. This made the planning of the shoots much harder to plan and organize because they had to be filmed on such a large scale and more consideration had to be taken in terms of the timing of footage. Additionally, as my group had little experience with using the camera, we found it difficult to shoot the complex shots in which the chase scene entailed, and felt that our lack of experience reduced the quality of the footage.
Storyboarding was a great way to plan each and every stage of my opening, shot by shot. This allowed me to see which angle / type of shot worked best, as well as changes to the narrative if needed. Additionally, digitalizing the storyboard in the form of an animatic was also extremely beneficial, as it allowed the experimentation of timing and sound along with the different shots, to create a very basic version of my opening. Learning this basic technique helped our group plan our thriller much more precisely in terms of how it looked and sounded.
Additionally, I believe my organizational skills have grown significantly. Before this task, I had not been involved in a group activity like this or for as long a time as this. This made it difficult for me to comprehend how to manage my time and role within the group (director). However, as time moved on, my ability to manage my time effectively and make vital decisions when needed improved, making our progress as a group much more steady and consistent.
The one aspect of production from the preliminary task to the final product, that I feel I improved in the most was editing. I had no experience whatsoever with editing any form of footage before I started, so when first approaching the preliminary task I found it difficult to become familiar with the software, However, over the duration of the task, I slowly become more competent and even began experimenting with new features to try and improve our opening further. Although, I feel further progression could have been made, especially with the concept of sound, as I still feel that the sound is the one aspect that reduces the quality of our piece.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the skills and progress I have made over the duration of this task. The skills and knowledge I have gained will aid me in any media work I go on to do and will help me to continue my own, individual progress. It is because of this that I feel myself and the other members of my group have succeeded in creating a professional looking piece that incorporates the typical codes and conventions of an action-thriller making it engaging for the audience.
