Evaluation - Tom Whitehead

In What way does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?

Our film titled “Isolation” is a revenge thriller. It has influences from films such as ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ and ‘Shutter Island.’ Like these films our film also follows the certain “generic conventions” typical of the film’s genre and storyline. We start the film with a mysterious sequence of a girl – played by Adie Grimbley - who is grieving in a graveyard. This gives the audience an idea of the plot. We then build up suspense by using dramatic non-diegetic piano music and a voiceover in the form of a phone call.

Throughout the 3 minutes of our film the suspense is built up by the introduction of the music, music that slowly gets slightly louder to build up to the death of our male character played by Scott Williams. We also challenge the generic conventions of this genre by starting our film off creating mystery and letting the audience work out the plot by themselves. Whereas some films similar to our genre start with some characters having an obvious purpose or just a huge action scene to get the audience instantly hooked. In comparison you could say our film has a “slow” start however the building suspense is more than enough to grip the audience.

Within our film there is a death and a very tense and urgent phone call. The death implies that the film is going to be an action / thriller. We have also instantly introduced the viewer to an idea of the plot by showing Adie grieving in a graveyard and then later being shown committing a murder. This incorporates the theme of revenge. As I said previously certain films have influenced our film. The main culprit is Jason Smilovic’s “Lucky Number Slevin.” Another influence was the film “Shutter Island.”

In comparison with “Lucky Number Slevin’s” opening sequence both films are very similar in what the start is trying to achieve and how it tries to achieve this effect. Both films begin with a mysterious opening sequence. They both get the audience asking questions and give a basic idea of the plot and what the film is going to involve. Both sequences involve a murder and don’t give a full reason for it. 

Lucky Number Slevin's opening involves mysterious murders with only hints of any reason why. This is very similar to our film.

How does your media project represent particular social groups?

Our film has a female main character. It is her who has the power over the other characters as the plot revolves around her and she is seen as the stronger character as she is the one in control over what happens. This is something called subverting the stereotype as she is the dominant character in the film. In our media product the male in the sequence is killed off and is ruled over by Adie. He is rendered helpless against the young blonde. Typically in films a blonde is stereotyped as relatively unintelligent. And also a young girl is normally seen as weak and passive. However our character is the complete opposite. So gender is represented in a subverted stereotypical way.

We feel that this will appeal to our target audience as it will be the film genre they enjoy only with a slight twist to stereotypical views. We feel this will interest the audience as it is different and refreshing to see a leading young blonde female character. This could even be classed as a “hook” for the film.

Screenshot of Adie's first appearance to the victim.

Adie's over the shoulder view of Scott. Adie is very dominant as she is looking down at her victim and he is sat down whilst Adie is standing.
 

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

I think our film could be upgraded to be filmed in a major Hollywood studio as it is a similar theme and genre to “Lucky Number Slevin” and I believe our film could have a lot of potential if it were to be professionally produced and shot. I estimate it would be a fairly popular film to the public. However, I also believe that if it were to be produced by a smaller studio such as “Warp Films” then it could still become a very decent film. I don’t think that it has to be a big company to produce a good film.

I think our film would be released in the form of a TV Movie. I think it will be released as this because it can appeal and be viewed by a wide range of people in different areas and could produce a high enough income to fund the release and more. A company such as The Weinstein Company could be a possible candidate to distribute our film as they were responsible for the distribution of “Lucky Number Slevin” and so are capable and interested in distributing this genre of media product.

Our film could merchandise such as clothing or posters. This would be both cost effective and productive as people who buy and make use of the items are then advertising the film to others they come into contact with. This is openly possible to leave the person interested in seeing the film raising more income from the film. Our film has a 15+ age rating so merchandise such as figurines, costumes or other such toys would not appeal to the target audience.

Collectables and maybe special feature disks may also be a good item to sell as merchandise.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our intended audience is male or females aged 15+ who are interested in seeing a revenge thriller. The film has a mysterious and somewhat detailed plot so may only be understood fully by an older audience and also has action and thrills in it to appeal to people who like to see exciting films. Our film will also use a range of words catering for varying degrees of knowledge of English grammar.

To help decide upon what classification our film should be I looked on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to gain a better understanding on the different classifications that exist in British filming. By finding knowledge on this subject we were then able to consider which classification we should aim for, for our media product. We were able to base our script, props and the filming process under the code of the classification so that we achieve a slot under the desired classification – 15+ in our case.

For more information on film classifications and their fields check http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

How did you attract / address your audience?

As our intended audience is 15+ male or females our film has to be appropriate to their tastes that are gained through ageing. This may result in some younger viewers being scared or shocked by certain points in our media product such as the opening sequence which involves a murder. Another part that may have an effect on a viewer is the very beginning where we show Adie grieving mysteriously in a graveyard whilst clutching flowers. This may create a feeling of sadness within a person and is in fact something we mean to happen. If a viewer is made to feel sad or any other emotion due to the contents of a film then they are being engaged into the film which means the media product has successfully addressed its intended audience.

We used specific camera shots and effects to help build suspense and also to try and put the viewer into the character’s point of view and frame of mind.  The audience is put in the frame of mind of our murder victim played by Scott. The camera begins unfocused as he opens his eyes after being knocked out and comes back into focus as he looks around, discovers his bonds to the chair he is tied to and the camera begins to jerk around quickly to show panic within the character and builds suspense.

Screenshot from Scott's point of view, the camera is blurred, the vision slowly clears as the charecter is waking up and the movement becomes quicker and more panicky as he realises where he is. This is building suspence.
 

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

We have gained a further understand and were able to completely try out the limits of quality and effects we can get out of using a camera for filming a short media product. We have learnt how to properly use a camera to professional standards. This includes the use of tripods and to even make a note of the lighting of the “set” we were filming. We also learnt how to quickly convert a segment of film down into a file type that can be read by the Mac computer ready for further editing.

Whilst filming we encountered 2 major problems. The first was the location. We were set to film at Ash Toplis’ cellar in his house and for various reasons we didn’t have access to the location at certain times dedicated to filming. To resolve this problem we returned to our schedule and moved certain things around. We were able to either film another part of the sequence that requires a different location or to film another time and perform editing or research for our Likely Lads Productions blog.

To edit our media product we used a piece of software called “Final Cut” on a Mac system. I learnt how to use the software package effectively and to a relatively high standard. We made good use of effects such as blurring, titles and a variety of ways of phasing from one piece of footage to another. We took time editing and were able to experiment with an amount of these different effects before settling on what is shown in our product. For our titles we tended to fade the screen to black and then show the title to create a more serious and sinister atmosphere in the media product.

Looking back into your preliminary task, do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that by taking a lot more time performing planning and tasks such as risk assessments, audience research, research into different classifications and by gaining a further understanding of the software and equipment we used I have improved and built upon my skills in creating a decent media product. I have gained understanding in processes that real, professional companies have to perform such as filming, editing and distribution. By planning ahead and creating schedules we were able to perform the filming and editing process much smoother and with less stress as we knew when we were on track and when we were supposed to be finish on certain parts of the project.

I feel after experimenting within the preliminary task we had a better understanding of camera angles and what works and what just doesn’t. We were able to film different shots more effectively and with less hassle. I feel we also used a wider variety of shots. We definitely feel more confident handling the equipment and using the software.

I feel our end product is very successful at fulfilling the end task as it has all the requirements listed and has been worked on for some time. We have taken time filming the footage and choosing where to perform filming and also took an interest in the different methods of filming and in editing. We demonstrated our newly developed skills well in our blog work and in our finalised media product. Should I have to complete this project again however I would spend a bit more time on keeping the blog up to date and complete.