19th December 2015- All cast meet at filming location with all equipment.
Filming started 11.16pm
Filming ended 1.48am
Sunday 6 March 2016
Thriller title reveiw
I decided to ask some people there opinion on the name we gave our thriller which was 'Psycho Sunday'. I asked two people on there opinion to see if it was the right choice.
Louise Hill: "I think the title Psycho Sunday really does suit this type of short film as the character in it is clearly a psycho and is blatantly wrong in the head. The word 'Sunday' suggests that its just another normal day but yet the character is still going on to try and kill people"
Adam Irwin: "I like the concept of the title and feel that it really does suit this type of film since it is a thriller. But when I first heard the name I thought it was a horror which it clearly is not"
Louise Hill: "I think the title Psycho Sunday really does suit this type of short film as the character in it is clearly a psycho and is blatantly wrong in the head. The word 'Sunday' suggests that its just another normal day but yet the character is still going on to try and kill people"
Adam Irwin: "I like the concept of the title and feel that it really does suit this type of film since it is a thriller. But when I first heard the name I thought it was a horror which it clearly is not"
Costume
Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Thursday 11 February 2016
Tuesday 9 February 2016
Question 1
- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have selected some scenes from our final edit of our thriller which incorporates, develops and challenges the typical forms and conventions of a thriller film. These clips mainly show how we’ve used form and conventions of a thriller as we did not want to change or try and develop the typical nature of thriller as we thought that these conventions were kind of set in stone and they weren’t really there for us to change. However once or twice during our clip we did slightly tweak the codes of a thriller.
I have selected some scenes from our final edit of our thriller which incorporates, develops and challenges the typical forms and conventions of a thriller film. These clips mainly show how we’ve used form and conventions of a thriller as we did not want to change or try and develop the typical nature of thriller as we thought that these conventions were kind of set in stone and they weren’t really there for us to change. However once or twice during our clip we did slightly tweak the codes of a thriller.
First Scene:
At the start of the film we didn’t wanted to show the
antagonists face as we wanted him to come across as mysterious and disturbed.
Just like a thriller should we thought it would create a lot of tension and
suspense and keep the audience on edge so we had to cut out our characters face
in every shot just to keep that air of mysteriousness there. This is probably
quite typical of a thriller so we used forms and conventions of a thriller
rather than changing them or developing them. This was because the antagonist
is probably the biggest part of the film so it definitely needed to follow the
codes of a thriller.
Not showing the antagonists face really incorporates the
generic conventions of a thriller and leaves the audience asking questions
about who this character is and what his plot is and where he is and what is he
going to do. The close up panning shots allow us to examine the character and
his surroundings. We decided not to show his face the whole way through the so
it does keep the antagonists mysteriousness and continues to make you think
that he is disturbed and that he is up to something.
Second Scene:
Up until the antagonist hits play on the music player we
decided to use some typical, eerie, non-diegetic thriller music as we thought
it was definitely fitting for the character and the setting of the film since
it is a thriller and is meant build tension and suspense. I think this is quite
typical of thrillers as you usually do hear this type of music in a thriller as
it is quite fitting and does set a scene and sets it up for the rest of the
film so we did not try to challenge or change any typical thriller conventions.
The music gradually gets louder and louder up until the
antagonist hits play on the music player when suddenly some really upbeat and
happy music kicks in. We decided to do this as it does make it just a little
bit more creepy and weird since the music was quite absurd and it wasn’t really
a tune someone would just casually listen too as it would be considered as
different and a bit weird so we thought if we used a completely contrasting
song it would be considered by our audience as a bit unfamiliar to the usual,
typical thriller genre.
Third Scene:
I have selected this particular scene to
discuss about how we have incorperated the generic thriller conventions. In and around this scene you will see our character get up and get on with his regular morning routine andacts as if there is nothing suspicous going even though there clearly is. Now this is rather typical of a thriller as you do often see at the start of these kind of films the antagonist waking up and getting on with there morning routine which could involve brushing there teeth and having brreakfast, just like our antagonist does in our film. Since it was the start of the film we didnt really want to try and challenge or change the typical, generic conventions of a thriller becasue we wanted to try and grab the audiences attention right from the first scene and by using these particular conventions we thought it was the best way to grab their attention.
Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
We could have done multiple different things to try and attract a certain audience. These things would possibly be through the conventions of the film and the way we filmed and directed the opening scene would have shaped how enticed our audience. Our audience could of been attracted too via the things we aimed for such as a specific target audience.
Since our desired target audience was teenagers/young adults we based everything we did in the film around that. So firstly one thing we did that we thought would attract and audience was that we had an enticing and gripping narrative. This would bring in an audience of thrill seekers and people that are hungry for some suspense. The plot was based on making a normal, every day teenager seem like a complete simpleton but then to spin it around and you to find out that he is a psychotic killer which really turns the film on its head and keeps the audience guessing.
Another thing we did that grasps a certain target audience was make the main antagonist male. Which we thought would address the film more towards men as they can put it into perspective and really relate to what is going on the screen. Even though we didn't want to have a specific gender typed audience, but because both of our characters are male it does kind of lean towards more of a male audience even though we didn't intend it too. Also since the actual genre of the film is quite violent and potentially gory, stereotypically this could attract more men to our film rather than women since typically women are into rom-coms and films that involve romance whereas with a man they typically tend to go for thrillers and horrors with a lot violence and blood.
Here I have summarised my audience feedback:
We could have done multiple different things to try and attract a certain audience. These things would possibly be through the conventions of the film and the way we filmed and directed the opening scene would have shaped how enticed our audience. Our audience could of been attracted too via the things we aimed for such as a specific target audience.
Since our desired target audience was teenagers/young adults we based everything we did in the film around that. So firstly one thing we did that we thought would attract and audience was that we had an enticing and gripping narrative. This would bring in an audience of thrill seekers and people that are hungry for some suspense. The plot was based on making a normal, every day teenager seem like a complete simpleton but then to spin it around and you to find out that he is a psychotic killer which really turns the film on its head and keeps the audience guessing.
Another thing we did that grasps a certain target audience was make the main antagonist male. Which we thought would address the film more towards men as they can put it into perspective and really relate to what is going on the screen. Even though we didn't want to have a specific gender typed audience, but because both of our characters are male it does kind of lean towards more of a male audience even though we didn't intend it too. Also since the actual genre of the film is quite violent and potentially gory, stereotypically this could attract more men to our film rather than women since typically women are into rom-coms and films that involve romance whereas with a man they typically tend to go for thrillers and horrors with a lot violence and blood.
Here I have summarised my audience feedback:
Sunday 7 February 2016
Question 4
-Who would the audience of your media product be?
My media product, psycho Sundays, is mainly aimed at teenagers/young adults. This is our primary target audience however our secondary audience it adults but mainly we believe teenagers will want to watch our film. Films similar to ours like Kingsman and Maze Runner use the same conventions as ours and they are, like ours, very stereotypically alike. All three films use a teenage male antagonist. These films seemed to use a character that is a similar age to the target audience of the film, which is what we tried to do so we made our antagonist a teenager since that is the audience we would like our product to appeal too. Also we thought that because or characters were all quite young and of a similar age to our viewers, we thought that as the film went on the audience would gain a connection and would find common ground with our characters which would make our audience sympathise more and it would be more of an emotional rollercoaster if our film was like this which is what a thriller should be like.
In regards to gender we didn't have one main sex we were aiming at whilst making the film, but since our character is male and wear male clothes and does stereotypical male things we thought that a male audience would probably enjoy it more than a female audience. But we did not have a certain gender in mind whilst creating the film. However with both actors being both male it may draw in a female audience potentially based of looks and attraction towards the opposite sex.
Again regarding the ethnicity of our audience we did not have a particular ethnic group in mind as we would like the film to be relatable and enjoyable for anyone. But since our characters are both white and British then maybe an audience of the same ethnicity is more likely to go and watch this film since it would make it easier to relate to the film and easier to put themselves in the antagonists shoes.
My media product, psycho Sundays, is mainly aimed at teenagers/young adults. This is our primary target audience however our secondary audience it adults but mainly we believe teenagers will want to watch our film. Films similar to ours like Kingsman and Maze Runner use the same conventions as ours and they are, like ours, very stereotypically alike. All three films use a teenage male antagonist. These films seemed to use a character that is a similar age to the target audience of the film, which is what we tried to do so we made our antagonist a teenager since that is the audience we would like our product to appeal too. Also we thought that because or characters were all quite young and of a similar age to our viewers, we thought that as the film went on the audience would gain a connection and would find common ground with our characters which would make our audience sympathise more and it would be more of an emotional rollercoaster if our film was like this which is what a thriller should be like.
In regards to gender we didn't have one main sex we were aiming at whilst making the film, but since our character is male and wear male clothes and does stereotypical male things we thought that a male audience would probably enjoy it more than a female audience. But we did not have a certain gender in mind whilst creating the film. However with both actors being both male it may draw in a female audience potentially based of looks and attraction towards the opposite sex.
Again regarding the ethnicity of our audience we did not have a particular ethnic group in mind as we would like the film to be relatable and enjoyable for anyone. But since our characters are both white and British then maybe an audience of the same ethnicity is more likely to go and watch this film since it would make it easier to relate to the film and easier to put themselves in the antagonists shoes.
Question 3
-What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
If we were going to choose any existing film distributing company then we would definitely go for one that has already distributed similar types of films to ours and one that has an interest in our film. This is because, obviously we want experience when it comes to marketing our product and if this company has past experiences with similar successful films then there going to know what there doing so our film would be in good hands.
After Sam and I did some research we decided that a good distributing company for us would be Vertigo Films Distributions. I think this would suit us as Vertigo Films have previously took low budget films and distributed them really well. Also they have unearthed hidden gems within the film making industry and have discovered a lot of talent whether that be exceptional actors and directors or low budget film makers.
Some films that Vertigo Films have distributed are Point Blank and A Night in the Woods. This could very much be considered as similar to our film as they use a lot of conventions of a thriller and have a flutter of violence and horror in them. A Night in the Woods could defiantly be similar to ours as they were also a very low budget film, with low budget lighting and low end cameras, but with that being said Vertigo Film haver distributed them really well and made them quite successful which is why we think that they will do good things with our film.
Modern Technology has allowed us as an audience to consume films through multiple different services. For example Netflix is extremely popular which allows to watch hundreds of films and TV shows for set monthly price. Amazon Prime and YouTube also being two other ways we can watch films and videos. Distribution of films can be helped through advertising on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. Since there are so many people using these sites it is very easy for your film to get out there and get popular.
If we were going to choose any existing film distributing company then we would definitely go for one that has already distributed similar types of films to ours and one that has an interest in our film. This is because, obviously we want experience when it comes to marketing our product and if this company has past experiences with similar successful films then there going to know what there doing so our film would be in good hands.
After Sam and I did some research we decided that a good distributing company for us would be Vertigo Films Distributions. I think this would suit us as Vertigo Films have previously took low budget films and distributed them really well. Also they have unearthed hidden gems within the film making industry and have discovered a lot of talent whether that be exceptional actors and directors or low budget film makers.
Some films that Vertigo Films have distributed are Point Blank and A Night in the Woods. This could very much be considered as similar to our film as they use a lot of conventions of a thriller and have a flutter of violence and horror in them. A Night in the Woods could defiantly be similar to ours as they were also a very low budget film, with low budget lighting and low end cameras, but with that being said Vertigo Film haver distributed them really well and made them quite successful which is why we think that they will do good things with our film.
Modern Technology has allowed us as an audience to consume films through multiple different services. For example Netflix is extremely popular which allows to watch hundreds of films and TV shows for set monthly price. Amazon Prime and YouTube also being two other ways we can watch films and videos. Distribution of films can be helped through advertising on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. Since there are so many people using these sites it is very easy for your film to get out there and get popular.
Question 2
-How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our main antagonist was made out to be a scary and psychotic killer. He was mainly inspired by the serial killer Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Our character, much like Jason Voorhees, is implied as being very powerful and strong, and uses those attributes to full effect by capturing his victims and is made out that he is almost capable of doing anything to them. We wanted our characters costume to come across as very plain and simple and on that would imitate a typical, modern day, sluggish teenager as no one would expect what hes doing which creates good tension and mystery. We went with the typical joggers and t shirt look which made our character look like the average teenage that had just gotten out of bed and beings to proceed with his morning routine before entering his garage to choose a weapon of his choice.
Its is very typical of the teenagers of today as wearing just simple joggers and a t shirt and this is the image we wanted to created. We wanted the image of the character to contrast with the nature of his whereabouts. Since the character is dressed as a teenager and look no older than 17 we thought this may aim our thriller more towards the teenage audience as in my opinion it is usually that type of audience that watch thrillers.
Another representation of a teenager is when our character goes into his kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal. Typically teenagers and kids are known for eating sugary foods and foods that are very easy to prepare because they are stereotypically known for being lazy. So we thought if our character ate a simple sugary food like cereal then it would add to the normalness of the character and keep his contrasting nature hidden. Also teenagers are known for being a bit unhygienic, but we go against that as our character goes to brush there teeth before going downstairs. Again this was to add to the normal nature of our character right up until he goes into the garage.
Our main antagonist was made out to be a scary and psychotic killer. He was mainly inspired by the serial killer Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Our character, much like Jason Voorhees, is implied as being very powerful and strong, and uses those attributes to full effect by capturing his victims and is made out that he is almost capable of doing anything to them. We wanted our characters costume to come across as very plain and simple and on that would imitate a typical, modern day, sluggish teenager as no one would expect what hes doing which creates good tension and mystery. We went with the typical joggers and t shirt look which made our character look like the average teenage that had just gotten out of bed and beings to proceed with his morning routine before entering his garage to choose a weapon of his choice.
Its is very typical of the teenagers of today as wearing just simple joggers and a t shirt and this is the image we wanted to created. We wanted the image of the character to contrast with the nature of his whereabouts. Since the character is dressed as a teenager and look no older than 17 we thought this may aim our thriller more towards the teenage audience as in my opinion it is usually that type of audience that watch thrillers.
Another representation of a teenager is when our character goes into his kitchen to pour himself a bowl of cereal. Typically teenagers and kids are known for eating sugary foods and foods that are very easy to prepare because they are stereotypically known for being lazy. So we thought if our character ate a simple sugary food like cereal then it would add to the normalness of the character and keep his contrasting nature hidden. Also teenagers are known for being a bit unhygienic, but we go against that as our character goes to brush there teeth before going downstairs. Again this was to add to the normal nature of our character right up until he goes into the garage.
Tuesday 2 February 2016
Thursday 28 January 2016
Tuesday 19 January 2016
Editing
Once we had edited all the footage and polished up how Sam and I wanted it, we then asked our teacher for some input and some guidance on how we could improve. She gave us some points we could easily improve on and we decided to act upon them. Also our thriller was just slightly over the required time limit so we needed miss to help us out with cutting down just a little bit more and she showed us where we could cut it down even more so we could narrow down the length of the scene. Whilst miss was giving us some pointers Sam wrote down on some paper the things she was telling us to chop and change and put down the exact time that the change was due to be made. Another thought our teacher made was to add some strobe effect on our intro where the camera pans across the street and to make it a bit more interesting Miss thought it was a good idea to add some strobes which could potentially foreshadow what was going to happen in the rest of the opening sequence.
Editing
On the second time of editing we had previously put the clips in the right order and slowly we got the hang of the software so we began to crop our clips. This I quite a tedious task as we had to crop every clip and then move it back into place and we had to frame perfect when we were cropping just incase we cropped out too much, but even sometimes we cropped out too little so we had to go back to it then move everything about again. Once the clips were cropped to correct sizes we wanted them to be we then started to add various different transitions so that the gap from scene to scene wasn't just a cut shot so it made the scenes flow better. This also allowed to us crop the footage down a bit more as we had to be under a certain time limit. After a while cropping and cutting became quite an easy task so we soon got through it all.
Editing
Once we had all our un edited clips in the right order we then had to edit them. This meant that was had to cut down all our footage and add any effects or transitions or anything like that. We had to get all the footage condensed down under two and a half minutes and since all our unedited footage reached 7 minutes this was obviously going to be a potential problem. Since this was our first time editing we didn't really have an advanced understanding on how to use the software and we were rushed for time also so we didn't actually get much done in our first editing session but it did set us well for when we came back to it after the Christmas holiday.
Sunday 17 January 2016
First Draft
Obviously because this is not the finished article. We took all the raw footage we filmed at threw it into the software and just left it without any editing so as you can see there are lots of parts we need to cut out and things we need to chop and change. Also the sound needs to change as you can very clearly hear the wind in the first shot which is not what we want. After this Sam and I will get onto the software and start playing around with it and trying to come up with a good thriller opening sequence from these shots we filmed.
Logo
Sam and I thought we should come up with a logo to put at the beginning of the thriller so viewers would know what 'fake' company produced the short film. We just quickly came up with a name and then used google to find some images we could use on photo shop
to create a logo. We thought this was just a fun and creative way to open the thriller as that's what real films do. Here is the logo image...
Shot Plan
Today Sam and I decided to come up with some camera shots we could use in our thriller. We chose the shots based upon how much suspense it would create and we also chose specific ones because it meant we could fit in title sequences whilst the thriller was running just like they do in actual films so it meant we could get the running time down to the required 2 minutes. Here are some of our shot plans...
Zoom in - on the radio to add suspense to the scene, possible name of a title.
Over the shoulder shot - these will consist throughout so the main characters face is hidden, this adds a mysterious effect for the clip.
High angle shot - to see the main character sorting through his toolbox for the weapon he wants to use for torture on the kidnapped individual.
Close up - this will be used to show the many tools within their tool box.
Long shot - shows the main character walking down the stairs heading into the kitchen to have breakfast.
Mid shot - this will capture the main character eating breakfast and also brushing his eating, but however it will leave out his eyes and get his mouth.
Two shot - this will feature the main character as well as the kidnapped individual in the same scene, adding a nervous effect for the audience.
Zoom in - on the radio to add suspense to the scene, possible name of a title.
Over the shoulder shot - these will consist throughout so the main characters face is hidden, this adds a mysterious effect for the clip.
High angle shot - to see the main character sorting through his toolbox for the weapon he wants to use for torture on the kidnapped individual.
Close up - this will be used to show the many tools within their tool box.
Long shot - shows the main character walking down the stairs heading into the kitchen to have breakfast.
Mid shot - this will capture the main character eating breakfast and also brushing his eating, but however it will leave out his eyes and get his mouth.
Two shot - this will feature the main character as well as the kidnapped individual in the same scene, adding a nervous effect for the audience.
Research and Planning
After we came up with the initial plan of our film and where we were going to film and what we were going to film and what was going to be in our film, we then had to come up with a story board to tell us exactly what was going to happen whilst we filmed. Its basically instructions to tell us where to film, what's going to happen in each shot and the type of shot we were going to shoot. The storyboard shows our character waking up, going to the bathroom to clean there teeth, walking downstairs and going to the kitchen to eat breakfast, then going out to the garage, then it shows our character going through a tool box to find a weapon to potentially hurt or kill the hostage, then it shows the character holding his chosen weapon. Then after this the screen goes blank and the thriller opening ends.
Risk Assessment
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)