Question 6

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

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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