Evaluation: Question 5: How did you attract/address your target audience? - Miss Begum

My research into existing thriller films was important as it would later give me support in molding different ideas and elements from these thriller films to make one final media product. Secondary research is good as instead of working harder to make a product, without having enough detailed knowledge, I have the opportunity to get statistics and opinionated reviews on films and the thriller genre which set me up to create a thriller based media product.

From my own research into thriller films, I believe that the target audience that they appeal to consist of age, gender, ethnicity, occupation and, hobbies and interests. My own target audience for each of these are as follows:

My target audience: 

Age: 15-30

Gender: Unisex

Ethnicity: None Specific

Occupation: None Specific

Hobbies and Interests: Thrillers, Dark Themes, Mystery.

I believe that from the thriller films the target audience mostly enjoy the unusual element of surprise and mysterious plot twists which is something thrillers don’t find hard to achieve. From the thrillers I have personally experienced there has been a plot and without even having time to think they drop a twist in the storyline leading to the audience being more intrigued and curious as to what they have changed like the protagonist’ enemy being a family member. Many other genres have taken this procedure in their films using that plot twist and is rare in thrillers so for my final product to take the role I believe we are carrying on them legacy.

Further to this, the emotions I believe the audience are likely to experience are psychological and physiological as there are dark scenes in the thriller, with the only light scene coming from when the antagonist goes to open the door, which could have a deeper meaning to it. I find it a bit of a hair raiser towards the end as it shows the new antagonist getting ready to step out with his master, readying this sharp knife while still keeping his identity hidden, to a really deep and hard sound made on Logic.

I believe that this was good research as it meant that for my thriller I had to consider who my target audience were and why they were my target audience. This meant that when planning and carrying out different scenes in the media product I had to take note as to what the audience wanted to see and how they wanted to see it. This was good as the audience played a part in the production of the final product through their opinion.

From my research, the target audience I wanted to attract for my thriller were young adults entering the stage of their life where they had to start maturing which meant nothing too cheesy or predictable was to come off the final product. Making the antagonist a younger male was a good way to accomplish this as we broadened the barrier and allowed for young males to relate to the father/son bond that the antagonist and presumable victim have as seen in the opening sequence.

Attracting my audience by creating a questionnaire: 

I carried out a questionnaire because, I felt as if getting direct feedback from the general and target audience would have an impact on how my production towards the final product went. The importance of my questionnaire was key as I gathered more direct feedback on what was needed and how I could accomplish this from the necessary people.

Some of the key questions I asked to make sure that I was attracting my target audience were:

• What emotions do thrillers tend to bring out from you?
• What do you expect in a thriller film?
• What is your personal opinion of a thriller film?
• What is your favourite thriller film?

Multiple key questions to get more information to address my audiences needs:

These are 2 quotes that I got from my open minded questions which helped me make key decisions to ensure that I was attracting and addressing my target audience.

What is your favourite character role in a film?

Protagonist (Hero)    Anti-Hero (Unorthodox Hero)    Antagonist (Villain)

What sort of lighting will you expect in a thriller?

Dark Lighting    Medium Lighting    Light Lighting  

Key findings from my questionnaire presented as graphs to make decisions to include in my final product to ensure I was attracting and addressing my audiences responses: 

Overall, the primary research was important because I could use my own technique to gather direct feedback from the target audience of my choice which is good for my final product as I am receiving necessary information rather than that from an unnecessary audience. This really helped me to attract and address my target audience as my product was created using ideas from the target audience rather than from those I was not trying to target with my synopsis. 

Rough cut of opening to gain feedback to make sure I was addressing the audience: (FOCUS GROUP)

After creating my production, I held a focus group because I wanted to see what the audience felt of my work after watching it. This was good as they would have seen what their opinions mixed with my groups ideas had created. The people that were asked to come and view the production were of a younger age because of the target audience being between 15-30 years. Below I gathered some of the constructive criticism that I received from the audience while they were observing my final product;

Looking back at the feedback I received from the necessary audience for my final product I can say that I have attracted and addressed my target audience through narrative, theme and plot. By doing this I have reached out to my target audience through everything I have mentioned which is potentially what my audience were expecting to see.

Evaluation: Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Miss Begum

Social Groups

A social group is a group of individuals with certain characteristics which allow for them to be included in this group. They may share interests and have things in common such as hobbies and lifestyle tastes. An example of a social group may be emo’s as they are seen as isolated and dark group of people who only prefer to be on their own or in a group as portrayed by the media. Another example of a social group is working class as they are grouped together by their financial status, occupation and lifestyle.. There are other social classes such as the ones I have mentioned the list could go on.

Representation

Representation is an important aspect of thrillers as it gives the audience a better understanding and insight on what the characters are meant to look and behave like, including characteristics. My media product has many different representations all mixed together to create a variety of elements. From the psychotic scene of the main antagonist to the more calm scenes in which he is telling his entrepreneur about their next job, they representations of something as the audience can look at this and get a better idea on what may be going on or the themes behind the plot.

Example of classic thriller characters

Anti-Hero - This is a prime anti-hero in the dark knight trilogies as he sees himself as the enforcer of law and justice through his own way. Similar to that of other anti-hero’s such as ‘Rorschach’ from ‘The Watchmen’ he doesn’t entirely hide away from society but still has his own way of making sure that no-one finds out his true identity or the man behind the mask. Living a double life almost. He is also presumably of a wise age around his 30’s or 40’s to maintain youth and experience and stands as a broad figure in his chosen role.

Protagonist - A classic example of a thriller protagonist is Liam Neeson in Taken, as he is chosen to represent majority of characteristics and skills that protagonists hold onto. He is however savage and brutally led by the fact that his prized possession of a daughter has been kidnapped from him leading him down the line of revenge and heroism to get her back. This character is around the age where he is not youthful but slightly aged and mindful of his surroundings and uses this to his advantage.

Antagonist - Often makes sure that their face remains hidden from the audience and the antagonist yet always leaving a hint to allow for tracing.  Just like some other antagonists he is a tactical antagonist and not one of brute strength as some people will want. However the more tactical antagonists are used as they make thrillers more of a thriller and less of an action film which is a great pathway to targeting a wider range in terms of audience and social group as keeping the antagonist and protagonist similar will attract more social groups.

My Character representing Social Groups of an antagonist

The social group I was trying to target were older, mature and experienced males who are wise yet curious to enter the outside world and master their surroundings. By using this specific character I have opened many conventions to what social group he could fit in, and in doing so he may represent the group of males who are silent and use their actions to speak for themselves.

Age: My male character is in his early 30’s and we have chosen for this specific age because we didn’t want him to be too young to be an experienced and wise antagonist or be too old to represent the less physical antagonists who retract from physical confrontations (like The Joker) and instead went for the age where most antagonists are without being too old or too young and instead just in the middle.

Gender: We chose for the character to be male as we felt we wanted to carry on the common convention of a male intimidating male antagonist instead of going for the unconventional intimidating female character as it would lead us down the path of possibly making her an assassin of some sort as portrayed in modern day thriller films whereas male antagonists in modern films are really smart but physically opposing characters with broad figures or even less just the brains.

Ethnicity: My antagonist challenges stereotypes in the sense that black actors in thrillers are probably one of the first to die or help a protagonist with his objective and rarely take the lead in thrillers so it kind of subsides from common conventions here also as by casting a black male as my antagonist I have shown that antagonists cannot always only be of one ethnicity and it can be different.

Physical Appearance: My antagonist is 6’3 and is of a larger broad physique which helps to ensure the audience see this character as a more savage antagonist rather than a more physically vulnerable character with the top brains and expertise at technical difficulties and tactics. Also with the dark clothes it helps as dark clothes instigate dark and psychological themes and move away from the sunny side of things and into the more evil agendas.

My Character representing Social Groups of a Victim

The social group I was trying to target with my victim was younger, vulnerable guys who felt intimidated by others who are much bigger and stronger than them but still have the potential to be as intimidating. Through my male victim I tried to represent the social group of quiet, introvert males who like staying at home and being quiet and by themselves.

Age: My male character is 16 and my group have chosen for him to be this young as he has been cast as a victim to be a potential antagonist. Audiences can look at this and relate it to other films where this has happened like The Dark Knight Rises.

Gender: I chose my character to be a male as it sets aside from the potential romance scene if it was a female instead. Also by making it a male we have created a new convention of male victims becoming what used to victimize them. Turning their nightmare into their dream, a sense of not running away from danger but instead running towards it.

Ethnicity: My victim challenges some stereotypes here as he is of Afro-Caribbean descent and becomes an antagonist through nurture and training. He does however, have essences of London with a casual North-London accent and can easily relate to the victim part of his ethnicity as stereotypical young black and mixed race kids are victims to knife and gun crime so him going from the victim to the antagonist is merely similar.

Physical Appearance: My chosen actor (victim) is 5”11 which is an okay height considering the antagonist is 6”3 so the height difference is still there. He is tall but he is quite small and less broad than the antagonist which supports his role as victim, and he represents the social group of males who can defend themselves but choose not to out of risk and intimidation of others.

Also the dress sense of my character is that of an innocent character and not one that is intimidating or scary, this is good as further helps the notion of my character being a victim even if he wears dark clothing instead of lighter clothing.

My Media product representing your particular social group through themes?

There are dark scenes in my media product which could reach out to social groups of which dark, and gloomy but interesting scenes are something they like or are into. For fans of unusual but expected twists in films then my media product is perfect for them. But the social group my media product reaches out to is young audiences who like seeing others their age go from being the ones who suffer to the one who gets rid of or causes the suffering. Similar to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ audiences will see this young male character slowly gain his rise to becoming the right hand man and assistant of the lead character just as Sgt John Blake did when he inherited Batman's Bat-cave at the end of the film.

That also shows a sign of care and respect in my product as our antagonist is trusting this young boy with the chance and responsibility to carry on his legacy while also entrusting him with his life work without getting him too involved or destroying his young days. However This cannot be perceived from just the opening scene which will result in our audiences being curious as to what might happen and how it came about to be this young, curious and vulnerable character who shows fear in his eyes yet has the ability to stand up and protect himself which enables him to hide that fear relating to the small minority of society that feel as if there is something holding them back from being successful but they still feel the need to resist that blockade.

My Media product representing your particular social group through narrative

The narrative in my thriller product as I have mentioned in the slide before is of this young boy who is entrusted by an experienced man to take over his position and continue his antagonist legacy through many years of training until he can finally say he is ready to lead the line and be his own antagonist without having to feel as if he is not worthy enough to make it to the top as somebody’s greatest enemy. 

Through nurturing with a bit of nature this reaches out to the social group of young boys with a male father figure in their life as they would one day like to be stated as the man of the house and have more than a little say in what goes on in and about. The narrative relates to this specific social group as even though the antagonist is not the victim’s father he could still be seen as a father figure by his actions and his ambitions for this young boy without having to have that father-son bond. With this narrative my group can go down many paths of common conventions in thriller films where there is a main man with a much younger assistant or young character eager to be involved in his motives and what he gets up to.

Evaluation: Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? - Mrs. Quinlan

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product? from emekamoore

Evaluation: Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product? - Miss Begum

Planning: Shot List - Miss Begum

Introduction

This is created by the director as a way for the group to know how the scenes will be shot and the type of cinematography used in those scenes. It is important as it helps organize scenes more and groups can gain extra knowledge from outer sources to add that extra effect to any of the scenes which is good for everyone in the group. I created a shot list using footage already recorded and ideas from my storyboard to discuss the cinematography to be used in my groups opening.

Conclusion

I believe that from creating this document for my group to look at and understand what will be going it has furthered my knowledge into understanding how each scene will go and what cinematography will be added. I personally have used this as a way to add it to actual recording of the opening and any other footage which will later help me in the future.

Planning: Character Representations - Mrs. Quinlan

Introduction

Character representation is very important in the film industry as it gives the audience a chance to understand the narrative of the film and the type of characteristic that the actor may have in common with their character. I think it is a key thing for films to have characters who share a physical and mental resemblance with the person portraying them, for example someone with maybe a dark side to them if angry can be the antagonist as that is something they will blossom in due to the similar characteristic. One character be seen as innocent which further allows for us to dig deeper into that network of who and why they look innocent or vulnerable.

Name: Emeka Datha-Moore

Character Role: Antagonist – Clown

Age: 17

Gender stereotype of role: Antagonists are meant to look and be intimidating and using someone who is 6’3 and well-built to play in such an antagonizing role is something we went through and saw as a possibility and tried to move from the common conventions of clowns being slim and short having their mind as their main strength when we can use a character who is big and has their strength as possibly their key thing. Also a guy as the antagonist stereotypically makes the opening a bit darker due to common conventions.

Costume, Hair & Makeup: Covering the actors face in a white mask or face paint is a good way to hide the identity which is what we are aiming for and the fact that white is such a golden image and innocent colour allows for the path of confusion to be opened up for the audience. We thought largely about the costume used for the antagonist and decided to go for a dirty white shirt, military style trousers and boots to move off the basic, remorseful clown and gone for a unique brutal clown with no empathy of nothing. From the dark clothing we haven’t followed that path with the hair and gone for a multi-colored wig instead of one consisting of dark colours. This allows for us to walk away from the common conventions of clowns and into one easily created using this character.

Body Language and Facial Expression: The body language of the antagonist will require them to hold a stern and stiff like posture just to bring out their build and physicality, this is important as it shows a dark character. The body language for this character is key as it allows for the antagonist to look scarier if intended and creates the intention of this character being a possible enemy if come across. In terms of facial expression if a mask is to be worn then this antagonist wouldn’t require facial expressions other than when he approaches the victim at the park. If however the antagonist uses face paint then facial expressions will be key in supporting character role and representation as it helps show the emotions of this character along with their body language.

Represented as: This actor is represented as quite intimidating in relation to the antagonist he is playing due to the height and physical built of his character. Most big actors are cast as the powerhouses in thrillers, the one character that everyone finds difficult to go through and by using an actor who is 6’3 and quite well built, we have followed this common convention by casting him as the villain rather than the protagonist or even anti-hero.

Role within the narrative: The role within the narrative is to bring out this uncommon clown as a highly intimidating antagonist yet stay in the region of being a thriller antagonist and not a horror antagonist which will be difficult but then overcoming it will be a feat as trying to get a brutal clown character out of this opening without creeping into the horror genre.

Conclusion

I feel like I have represented this character effectively as it allows the audience to have a better understanding of the actor which allows for them to get used to the antagonist as how we wish for them to be portrayed. Also it helps us get a better understanding of why we chose this specific person to take the role of the antagonist and what specifications they met to gain the role of this brutal clown which is down to their physical attributes and facial expressions they are known for.

Name: Tyler Neophitou (Taller Person)

Character Role:  Clown Entrepreneur

Age: 16

Gender stereotype of role: An entrepreneur is a spitting image of the person training them, be the predecessor they are destined to be and using an innocent character to take over this role is good as it shows that this small character will be nurtured into the intimidating character that is the antagonist. Take a film like the Dark Knight rises (spoiler alert) where the small police officer is trained without knowledge of it into Batman’s sidekick (Robin), he is the predecessor in terms of anti-hero fighting crime. Just as we will do in our thriller opening we are training this young character without knowledge of it that he will later become what his mentor is. Using a male also steps aside from adding another sub-genre into the thriller and leaves the darkness effect added to the opening which is a good thing as it is as if we are turning this angel into a demon.

Costume, Hair & Makeup: We decided to also cover this characters face in the same identity-hiding as the main antagonist as an entrepreneur he will practically be copying everything this character does but in his own way of some sort. The hair, makeup and costume for this character will be very basic yet classy down to the fact that he isn’t really his own character yet as identified in the opening he has just been introduced as the number two to the first character.

Body Language and Facial Expression: Facial expression cannot be explained in this as his face will be covered but we will try our best to make sure as a character he makes it seem to the audience as the mask is his face. The body language of this character will be important in the notion that it is to show us what type of character he is and the characteristics that come with his character. Also depriving from the fact he is a much smaller built antagonist the body language will be added to show that he struggles in some way to do certain things the antagonist tells him or shows him to do. 

However with the help of the antagonist standing beside him egging him on his body language will be used to show he is getting the hang of his new found role.

Role within narrative: This characters role within the narrative will be to bring out the darker side in him rather than the innocent side he may possess and further justify that anyone can become an antagonist. He has been given this role because of many factors which explain his character and why he has been chosen as an antagonists entrepreneur. Many baby-face actors within thriller films are seen as the victim or the brave protagonist however in our thriller opening we decided against going for that same convention as everyone else.

Represented as: This character is represented as being quite innocent yet eager to learn down to body built and baby face. The baby face gives it away that he is too innocent to be an antagonist which kind of leans away from the common conventions that are portrayed currently in the media. Being quite slimmer and less built than the antagonist this character is represented as the one you could never quite expect to be the character he has been casted as which is a good thing for our thriller as we have stepped away from common conventions and walked into our own thing. The body language will also be a huge factor as by acting the way he looks, he can show the audience that he is not the cute innocent character he looks without the mask and characteristics that have been applied to him.

Conclusion

I feel like I have represented this character to good effect as his appearance slightly fits his identity yet without going off topic we have created a new convention with this character by making this potential antagonist come off with an innocent face. This isn’t really common therefore adds that little bit of spice to our thriller as the audience will be curious into how they applied the actor to fit the character, and will also be intrigued by what lies ahead for this character and how he fits into the thriller.

Planning: Preliminary Task - Miss Begum

Introduction

The purpose of this is for our group to familiarize ourselves with editing and being infront of the camera, it also helped us think about what we could do to improve our final product. This has allowed us to work in a group as we have never worked together this way in a group before and with most of us hardly using video cameras we weren’t familiar with the functions or how to adjust the camera or view the recordings we took. Since Abass was set to be the cameraman for the final product I was taking the reins for the preliminary task as a way to get involved and try my hands at being in control of the camera. This helped us learn how to use the camera properly and prepared us in using it for our final product. Abass and Umut were cast as the actors in the preliminary task as a way to switch roles and get that taste of experience and see how it felt being infront of the camera.

Scene 1

This first scene proceeds with Abass and Umut talking about what they should do for their 

coursework with Abass being frustrated over Umut not working hard enough to put forward an idea or be bothered with the work.

Scene 2

Abass tries to motivate him to do the work, talking about the importance of it down to the fact they will get a lower grade if he doesn’t pull his weight.

Scene 3

Umut then tries to act as if he is involving himself by making an irrelevant suggestion; He suggested that the coursework should be two people talking about the video game ‘Fifa’.

Scene 4

Abass explains that it is a stupid idea as they can’t be converse about video games for this very important piece of coursework and further spoke of how they could receive a low grade if they do that.

Scene 5

Umut says that he will not comment on what Abass said because he thinks that his suggestion is actually a legitimate suggestion and he thinks it might actually produce a good grade.

Group Roles are as follows: 

Cameraman

The cameraman will be the person behind the camera controlling it. They will be needed to handle the camera professionally without messing around and hold the frame still. Because of this I was also the person filming the preliminary task. It was originally Umut doing the filming but he wasn’t doing it well so I offered to take control of the camera instead. I was the best cameraman for the preliminary task mainly because I was the most ready for the task, however we decided that Abass would be filming the final product because I had other things to get organized and done.

Actors

Abass and Umut were acting in the preliminary task. Down to the fact Abass and Umut had done drama related courses in the past they had an experience of acting. This is why they were chosen instead of me. However, for the final opening scene Abass was put on the camera for the final task as I was acting and Umut has now left our group so isn’t involved in the final task anyway.

Editing

For the preliminary task we all took part in the editing in order for us as a group to find out who was the most comfortable with the program. As we were doing this we found out that Abass was the most comfortable with editing as he knew a lot about editing programs already. So we decided that I should be the one editing for the final task.

Difficulties

Some of the difficulties we encountered while filming were things such as were we the right place is the film the preliminary task because we were trying to find the best place for lighting and objects in the scene. The way we overcame this was by finding a place where there was good lighting in order for it to be clear. A difficulty I encountered was the issue of filming ‘over the shoulder shots’ because I couldn’t find the right angle but I overcame this by repeatedly trying different ways to get the over the shoulder shots until I finally got the right angles. As well as the difficulties we found during filming there were also some difficulties found during editing which included problems like learning how Final Cut Pro works. None of us had ever used Final Cut Pro before, even though Abass used another editing program called Sony Vegas it was far different from Final Cut Pro. The way we overcame this difficulty was learning how to use it while using the program because we found out how the program works.

What I learnt

While going through this preliminary task I learnt who the best at doing what in our group were. We found out Abass was the best at editing and filming and we found out that I was the best at acting and using sound. Abass learnt how to use Final Cut Pro as an editing program because he normally uses something else and he also learnt how the camera worked.

Conclusion

Taking part in this preliminary task helped us as a group get to grips with operating a camera and editing using Final Cut Pro. This task helped me in operating a camera for my media product as I may have to shoot a few scenes by myself because of the location of my house for one of the scenes. Also as well as handling a camera for the preliminary task, importing footage into final cut and creating a timeline was added to one of my many skills picked up during this.