Aftermath Evaluation - Laura

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

Low angle shot shows dominance

Our opening sequence of the film, 'Aftermath' is of the thriller genre; therefore we have incorporated many generic conventions of this genre into our film, considering editing, lighting, mis-en-scene and many other things to give this opening sequence a real thrilling feeling. We have used a range of camera angles to depict the dominating and powerful within the scenes. The use of a low angle shot creates a sense of power when used to film the kidnapper. We also made good use of point-of-view shots during our film, which makes the whole situation seem more edgy and really gives the audience a feel of what's going on in the film as you can see it through the kidnappers view. The point-of-view shot is common within the thriller genre, which again shows how we have incorporated generic conventions.Throughout the two minutes we have a used a low, eerie, non-diagetic music track which helps to build up the tension to Emily and the kidnappers conversation. The use of the blood and bruises on our character Sophie also corresponds to our thriller genre and the way she is tied up an a dark, scruffy garage creates a typical thriller scene - combined with the dark lighting, it creates a creepy, uncanny atmosphere.

Point-of-view shot

I would say that our film is indeed part of thriller hybrid, which would be crime. This is because not only does it create the creepy and tense atmosphere as a thriller genre does, it also has the crime elements, such as: the kidnapping, the tasks Emily is forced to carry out, how the police will be involved nearing the end of the film and the drug dealing Emily's father has been taking part in. Therefore, I would very much say it is a Crime Thriller which would give it more action and make it become more uptight.

Our title sequences





Seven title sequences

Like the opening sequence of the thriller film, 'Seven', our film also makes use of the flickery, scratchy images which you will see on our title sequences which were created on photoshop. The images flicker and appear scratchy with spots of blood on them matching those seen in 'Seven'. Also, you get a sense of being in the murderers point-of-view during the opening sequence of 'Seven' - like when we seeing him removing his fingerprints - quite like what we've done with our point-of-view shots in the park. The text stands out well from the black background on the 'Seven' title sequences, which is something we've tried to recreate in our film to give a striking effect. 

How does your media product represent social groups?

Higher up in the scene shows power

In the opening sequence we have created, the characters very much take on stereotypical roles of men being more dominant and the women more passive. We have show this by making the man the kidnapper and shown him in a lot of high angle shots, and made him appear higher up in a lot of the shots, showing his dominance. Whereas Sophie is tied up for the majority of the sequence and Emily is being made to do as the kidnapper says. However, as the film draws to an end the stereotype will subvert, leaving Emily in a more dominant role, as she will make the kidnapper get sent to prison.

The characters and their stereotypes, particularly the two girls, link well with our audience as a large majority of our target audience, would in fact be teenage girls. As Emily would subvert the stereotype towards the end of the film, it would give her a sort of heroine status, empowering any teenage girls in our audience and allowing them to aspire to be like her.

We have used mis-en-scene well to portray the different characters. We have dressed both Emily and Sophie in regular, stylish clothes which a typical teenage girl would wear. There make-up is also quite simple - apart from when Sophie has her blood on her face - to make them look fairly innocent and girly. In contrast, we have dressed the kidnapper in dark clothes and a balaclava to try and conceal his identity. The dark clothing also so shows is dark nature. Also, by showing Sophie tied up throughout the clip it shows she is a very vulnerable character.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?After researching into many different productions companies, we decided our film would best be distributed by the British company, Optimum Releasing. We chose this company as not only is it British, so the film would be release throughout the company creating familiar stereotypes seen throughout Britain; but it also had a lot of success with the low-budget film, 'This Is England'. Like this film portrays many typical stereotypes which will be well known by the British people, ours does as well, so it would be a good idea to use the same distribution company they did, as they would know how to market and promote it to cinemas around Britain.

Our film is would be distributed throughout independent, UK cinemas. However, I believe our film would need to be shown on TV to get large recognition, on channels such as, Channel 4, Film 4 or even Channel 5. All of these channels tend to show more, low-budget, British, TV movies; therefore it would be suitable to air them on these channels. The film wouldn't be suitable for channels such as BBC 1, ITV 1 or Sky Movies, as they show more big blockbuster, Hollywood films. I don't think our film is fit for a lot of franchises and merchandising. The film would mainly need posters to advertise it and possibly Internet advertisements. Other than that, there are no merchandising possibilities which could be used for sales.

Who would be the audience of your media product?

Jumpy shot

The target audience for our film would be quite a large range, both males and females, younger and older. Specifically our audience will be males and females, 15-30. Although, we think that the film may attract more females than it does males, as we see the female characters taking on heroin roles, showing a more confident and powerful side, which many young girls would like to see. The intriguing storyline would attract an older audience, whereas the developing action throughout the main of the film would attract younger males. The storyline as a whole could create a strong, recognisable and emotional link between the characters and the audience. The fact that Emily is willing to do anything to save her friend, Sophie is something that young teenage girls could relate to and the story of Emily's dad getting involved in drug dealing is something that some young girls could also relate to, as it would be a serious problem for them. It could give them comfort that at the end it would all stop, or even convince them to talk about the whole situation with there relative that has the problem, or someone who can offer help and advice.

Through the audience research we carried out (shown above) we were able to find out that people enjoy watching thrillers as they tend to be quite jumpy and tense. We have tried to incorporate this as much as possible into out film by using tense, eerie music. The part where the kidnapper rips the tape from Sophie's mouth could be considered jumpy as it is quite fast paced and ends abruptly. Also, the part where Sophie opens here eyes could be seen as jumpy too.

I believe that the most appropriate certificate for our film would be 15 due to the subtle violence seen throughout and the threatening nature. The film may also include strong language as the film develops and the mentioning of drug abuse also pulls the certificate up to a 15. Our film could be compared to the film 'Hostel', which holds an 18 certificate. Like ours, the film focuses on people being held hostage, however, it focuses more on the gruesome, physical torment of the hostages. The film 'Taken' could also bee seen as similar to ours, even more so than 'Hostel' as it holds a 15 certificate. Like ours, there is the use of violence, but it is not directly focused on and it is more involved with the criminal side, rather than psychological or painful.
Here are the guidelines for a 15 certificate film: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2

After we had finished our film, we asked a few of our peers questions about our film and recorded their thoughts (shown below). We found out that they liked the use of flashbacks, eerie music and point-of-view shots, which are all thriller generic conventions.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Flashback

We have used lots of different camera work to try and engage our audience, mainly our point-of-view shots. These shots put us in the point-of-view of the kidnapper, therefore making the whole scene feel more scary and tense. It's a way for the audience to actually feel like they're witnessing what's happening and a more intense view of hatred towards the kidnapper. The whole situation where Sophie is kidnapped in a park while on her way to meet her friends could terrify the younger females in the audience as they could have experience that vulnerability and fear when walking to meet a friend alone. It could also terrify any parents in the audience who tend to worry when their children are out alone. The flashbacks also attempt to connect with the audience, as it helps to give them a better idea of what is happening.

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

Overlap of sound

I believe that the filming equipment we used, which was a Sony DV1000 high definition camera and a tripod were very easy to use and didn't cause us a lot of problems. The camera we used was a more high-tech camera than we normally use and what we used for our preliminary exercise. This camera made the picture much clearer and crisp, and giving us a better quality picture to work with and edit. Although there were no major problems during filming, we did encounter one problem that we didn't notice until we put the film from our tape onto the computer. Even though we'd pressed stop recording after filming our shots, the camera carried on filming, so we had long bits of film which weren't needed. To overcome this we put all our film onto Final Cut Express and deleted all the long parts we didn't need.



Flashback effect



Altering white balance

I have learnt a lot from using Final Cut express when editing my film, and believe it to be an excellent programme for editing projects such as mine. We used lots of different techniques to make our film look as professional as possible. At one point in our film, we had forgotten to alter the white balance during film so therefore had to alter it on Final Cut Express. We also used a good effect to make the flashbacks scenes appear more like a flashback. Also, we merged the sound over at different points in the phone conversation so that you could hear the kidnapper talking while the camera was still on me; this was affective as it showed the fear in my face. Also, we had many successful match on actions, making the film flow smoothly.

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

Preliminary exercise

Final film

The progress we have made from our preliminary task our final, two minute, opening sequence is substantial and clearly shown. When first starting our media course, we made a 30 second film after only a few lessons, and so our group weren't experienced with the camera, editing and the use of cinematography. As we've progressed into creating our two minute film, we have used a wider range of shots to help storyline unfold, and used affective editing to make our film look quite professional. The pre-production stage was of crucial importance when creating our film as it meant we were more organised for what to do when filming and gave use a clearer idea of the storyline, rather than just creating something that didn't fully make sense with the rest of the film. The use of storyboards, scripts and shot lists all contributed to make everything in our film together correctly. Practice shots also helped to film, as we had a better idea of how to go about difficult shots.

Overall, I think the task of creating a typical Thriller opening sequence, which will make the audience want to watch the rest of the film, has been fulfilled well. The film makes good use of typical generic conventions and creates that tense, jumpy, eerie feeling that you are likely to get in a Thriller film. The whole story line appeals to its audience well and with the combination of camera work, cinematography and editing creates the whole feel we were going for.