Our Completed Thriller

Preliminary Exercise

Evaluation question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your finished product?





Since the creation of our preliminary task i have gained many valuable skills such as how to edit, produce and plan a film. For example we learnt how to keep continuity throughout our scenes. I have also learnt how to incorporate camera angles, lighting and sound together to create particular atmospheres,

During the creation of our preliminary task we were still rather new to using camera angles so we stuck to the basic shots such as the medium shot. Where as during the production of our thriller we were a lot more comfortable and managed to use an array of different camera angles such as a crane shot which we created by resting the tripod on a high branch of a tree. This shows progression as i am now able to use a large variety of camera angles.

                                 Preliminary                                             Thriller


Another skill we improved on as a group was our ability to edit, not only did we improve our continuity but we were also able to edit to match the scene; we used fast paced editing in the chase scene to show the speed of the chase.

I have also improved my script writing skills. During the preliminary task our script was very limited and not very well thought out which resulted in alot of time being wasted by attempting to improvise, where as in the Thriller our script was planned thoroughly and it also included stage directions. This helped me improve my planning skills and allowed us as a group to focus more on more important things such as editing.

Lastly i have also learned how to use sound effectively. In our preliminary task we only used digetic sound as we were still trying to understand the different types of sound and why they are used. In our thriller however, we managed to use both digetic, non digetic, on screen and off screen sound by using dialogue, music and sound effects.

Evaluation Question 6

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

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

evaluation question 3

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

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product predict represent particular social groups?

evaluation question 1

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

Our thriller follows many of the typical conventions of a thriller. We used an array of techniques ti attract the attention of our audience. As a group we were particularly influenced by the film "Taken" as we found the way the kidnapping scene was executed was particularly interesting. As our thriller also involved a kidnapping scene we decided to incorporate bits from "Taken" such as the use of weapons. 

  

One typical convention we used in our thriller was a cliffhanger. The opening of our thriller ended with the protagonist being shot. Cliffhangers are widely used throughout the thriller genre as they are a way of creating suspense and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

We also made our antagonist appear more powerful as in thrillers the antagonist is typically the dominant one. We used this throughout both our chase scene and our hostage scene. During the chase scene our protagonist is running away from our antagonist. This shows us that the antagonist is more powerful and he is the one doing the chasing. This also suggests that the protagonist has reason to fear the antagonist as he is running away from him; suggesting that he is in danger. This created a number of enigmas such as  "why is the protagonist being chased?", "who is he?" and "who is chasing him". Our hostage scene also supports the antagonist being more powerful as he is the one being in control of the situation and the protagonist appears weak and fearful.

In our hostage scene the antagonist had all the power. Although our protagonist attempted to gain power his attempt was blighted and was met by a gunshot. This shows that our antagonist never really had a chance at regaining some power. Films such as Lord Of War use and The Matrix use similar interrogation scenes. In the Matrix, during the interrogation scene Agent Smith has complete control over mr Anderson. Anderson refuses to cooperate and is faced with the consequences. Smith and the other agents assert their dominance and show that they are in control of the situation.

Another convention of thrillers that we used is the protagonist being dragged into a situation against his will. This is shown in our hostage scene when our protagonist claims that it must be a case of mistaken identity. We also used a revenge fueled plot which is common amongst thrillers such as Taken. In Taken, Liam Neesan's daughter has been kidnapped and he sets off on a mission to find her and take revenge. This is similar to our thriller however it is reversed; our antagonist is the one who's actions are being fueled by revenge