My Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Dear readers,

I researched my audience demographic and psychographic in two ways - firstly, I compiled a series of questions on surveymonkey.com to ask the general public, in order to find out my audiences interests on a wider scale, so I could put together a movie that was tailored to and market I was looking at. Then secondly, I compiled a questionnaire on word to ask a focus group after they actually watched the movie.


SurveyMonkey - Establishing the audience I have

Evall 4 - Survey Questions

Publish at Calameo

Questionnaire - Results after watching the movie

Here are the results of the questions I asked in a pie chart format. To help me work out who would be my audience for the media product i'm looking mainly at the second chart of who the focus group thought the movie should be aimed at. The results show that the 'teenager' category is the biggest which corresponds with target audience i originally set out to target. The first question is also important because the focus group was based around the ages of year 10 students to sixth form students, so therefore being in the teenager/young adults category means i have to see how happy they were to watch it. The results show that 38/41 (92%) of people enjoyed the movie which is above excellent therefore my audience from this survey is correct in terms of the audience for my media product.

Furthermore looking at my treatment from before the psychographic profile I had before matches the age range at which my movie was shown to. So the results are perfect for my predictions.

My Real Thing - Idents

Dear Readers,

So after filming the next step is to create an ident - most people use ones already made but our media group decided to make our own.

This girl has done some research into idents and I liked what she put so I decided to show you...


The convention of a thriller ident is black and white plus bold clear titles. With some mysterious element. Adding a sense of fear.

Using the software MOTION for the Mac computer, I am teaching myself to do an ident!

In class we mastered using some of the techniques and templates provided:



 After this I decided to make my own one:

I had problems - such as the fading but after extensive searching i found a 'behaviour' template that does it...

 This is the grouping method of how you place things into the motion flow. You group each element and to each element indiviually alter it's e,g, motion or colour etc...

This is the screen to which you see what comes together -  here you can see the flow port, which is where purple bars are added elements and blue bars the actual elements.

This is the library of templates they have, it's extensive so you need to search into it quite a lot!

















Until next time... bye!

My Real Thing - BARB

Dear Readers,

BARB is a company panel that records the number of views on each channel per programme - here is two videos that sum it up: (straight from the BARB website)...


Here are some of the channels that provide movies - (I chose films because its more relatable to my project)

Here the film - White Christmas has got 294000 views which is due to the correct timing of release around christmas time but also is quite low due to the number of people that have already seen the movie. 

These Films here on Film4 Have high viewings yet again people have watched some of them of the viewing can be low because of that. 

And again the views vary as people have watched some of the films, so they can be low because of that.

Until next time...

My Real Thing - About BBFC Ratings

Dear Readers,

All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation.

Here are the BBFC age ratings split up into each rating: (Click on them for more information)

Suitable for all

Parental guidance

Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over

Video release suitable for 12 years and over

Suitable only for 15 years and over

Suitable only for adults

Adults works for licensed premises only

For my own movie:

A focus group I've used prevouisly who unanimously told me a Thriller would be the most effective genre, when I showed them mutliple different genre's of other students, also helped me establish that my audience range would be around 16plus. So the age rating on my coursework would be recommended at 15 due to the scary/ jumpy scenes that I may produce. The reason I wouldn't show to any younger viewers is the imposed nightmares and mentally scared scenes might be to much to handle and it would be unethical/unprofessional for me to allow children to watch it.

Until next time... bye!

My movie planning - Jack Inspiration

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Thriller Genre - Audience research

Dear Readers,

Understanding the importance of an Audience
So before I can jump to conclusions about who my coursework  is aimed at I need to understand the importance of an audience so I can aim my coursework at the right people. Everyone has been in an audience. We have all been part of a group of people who come together to experience music, film, theatre or other live event. So when I looked up an audience in media terms, I found out that the audience is any group of people who receive a media text, and not just people who are together in the same place.‘Audience’ is a key concept throughout my media studies, because all the media texts we do, or watch are produced with an audience in mind. So an audience is part of the media world – "a product is produced and an audience receives it." This is because an audience is part of how the media world make it's money;  Advertisers need an audience who will see or hear their advertisements and then buy the products.Audience research is a major element for any media producer. So for me I will need to carefully look up what ages / companies/ genders will watch my 'Thriller' coursework. Companies are set up to carry out audience research for media producers, broadcasters and advertisers but I will do it by myself. So to help me I looked up what these companies do. These research companies use questionnaires, focus groups, one to one interviewing, and electronic devices to find out about people’s life styles, and television viewing habits as well as the type of products they want to buy.

Above is the age rating categories

So a focus group I've used prevouisly who unanimously told me a Thriller would be the most effective when I showed them different 2 minute AS coursework of other students, helped me establish that my audience range would be around 16plus. So the age rating on my coursework would be recommended at 15 due to the scary/ jumpy scenes that I may produce. The reason I wouldn't show to any younger viewers is the imposed nightmares and mentally scared scenes might be to much to handle and it would be unethical/unprofessional for me to allow children to watch it. Proper media companies would show short extracts or trailers for up and coming programmes are often shown to focus groups to see how they react. If they don’t like something then the producers may make some changes. Hollywood films are regularly ‘trialled’ in front of cinema audiences in America. In some cases the ending of the film is changed because the trial audience do not like it. Sometimes several endings are filmed and the trial audience asked to choose the one they like best.Media producers spend a lot of time and money finding out who the audience for a programme or media product might be. It’s a serious business; media producers want to know how the audience is made up. A mass audience is very large, so ways of breaking it down into categories have been devised.

So until next time you lot...bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration

Thriller Genre - Audience Expectations

Dear Readers,

Audience Expectations of a Thriller

What would the audience expect:

Within a thriller film, the audience expects the film to meet many conventions. The reason for this is because the conventions of the thriller genre are what makes up the genre itself. If the film doesn’t meet the conventions of the genre, then it wouldn’t count as a thriller genre; therefore it wouldn't meet the expectations of the audience. 

An example of a thing that the the interview group I used frequently came up with was JUMPY and SUSPENSE. This is something that is expected within a thriller genre because it creates enigmas for the audience and makes them ask questions.

What the audience would not expect:

I personally believe that in a thriller genre, the audience wouldn’t expect anything happy to happen until the end which my interview group said also and the reason as to why I would say that nothing good will happen until the end is because at the end, the antagonist would have usually been found or exposed and they usually die in most thriller films. The group also mentioned, romance... now to a certain extent, no, but if if was psycho obsessed romantic thriller it would work. But for mine, it will not contain romantic elements.

Here is my interview of a range of people, on what they would expect or not expect in a thriller:

SO until next time...bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration

Thriller Genre - Famous Directors

Dear Readers,

My genre would not be the genre it is today if it wasn't for the famous directors incharge of the films we see on screen.

Here is a video I put together of a quick overview of the directors I have chosen as most famous yet greatest Thriller directors of all time:



I chose those 5 because of the name they have made for themselves but here are the 2 like like the best more detail:

The most famous director in this genre goes way back to Alfred Hitchcock as he was born in England in 1899 which to me is big deal because I like to see what our country has produced, and when Hitchcock was only 20 he worked his way into directing. This to me is inspirational because he was so young and he not only made films but they had no sound, such as 'the lodger'. He was able to create movies that made sense without sound, and use his actors cleverly to portray a storyline. He gained the nickname 'Master of Suspense' due his ability to create suspense cleverly whilst using music and certain placements. Hitchcock had common themes throughout his movies, usually the man blamed for a number of crimes, a pretty blonde and suspense. He then moved to the US where he made 'Rebecca' when he made a phycological melodrama which was different to his style normally. However his knowledge of technology was his best expertise, which made his movies one of a kind, as he knew things about editing other directors didn't. I'm taking from this that i need to learn the ins and outs of editing so my 2 minute movie opening is just as good as editing on Alfred Hitchcock's movies.

"I think what sound brought of value to the cinema was to complete the realism of the image on the screen. It made everyone in the audience deaf mutes." -Alfred Hitchcock

Steven Spielberg was also a massive name in directing this genre, however he was an american director that not only was massive in Thrillers, was named the most influential director and producer of films in general. Steven made films such as Jurassic Park, Jaws, Lincoln, Minority Report and E.T. but the most famous one for the thriller genre was Duel. He continues to this day to director as this latest movie Bridge of Spies is due to come out in October 2015. This man to me is inspirational due to the number of movies he's made that have been successes among not only America but the world!
Steven Spielberg also has his common traits such as his iconic track- in shots, I know he doesn't do the actual camera work but he directs how they should be done, and he does that well! Also his framing, he likes to frame shots to show foreground and background.

Thriller Genre - Typical Synopsis

Dear Readers,

Research Into Typical Synopsis

In terms of a thriller genre, a typical synopsis is the typical conventions of a thriller that usually happen. For example in most thriller genres, the protagonist is always placed in danger at the beginning of the film. It is usually the antagonist that is slowly revealed throughout the cause of the film. The typical synopsis of a thriller film is when the antagonist usually exploits the weakness of the protagonist during the film. Also the typical synopsis of a thriller genre generally includes criminal activity. For example, it usually includes iconography such as police officers, weapons, blood and many more.

The one thing about the typical synopsis of a thriller is the fact that the antagonist isn't always a villain. However the antagonist does usually try to work against the protagonist in order to meet the main conventions of a thriller genre. In a few thriller genre's the narrative usually consists of issues of identity and they are usually explored. For example, this happens within the storyline of North by Northwest.

The final thing about a typical synopsis is the fact that it links to the general story lines of a thriller. For example, the audience are expected to know what happens within the film. It also links to the conventions of a thriller genre in which the audience are expected to know the types of things that should be included with the thriller genre. The main example is the fact that there is usually a protagonist and and antagonist. Another example is the fact that within a thriller genre there are usually enigmas and cliffhangers.

Examples of the synopsis's for the sub-genres of a Thriller:

•       Horror thriller - For example, “the shining” directed by Stanley Kubrick. A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.
•       Adventure thriller - for example “ die hard” directed by John Mctiernan. John McClane and a store owner must play a bombers deadly game as they race around New York while trying to stop him.
•       Erotic thriller - for example, “secret things” directed by jean Claude Brisseau two young women find themselves struggling to survive in Paris, street-wise Nathalie, a stripper, and naïve Sandrine.
•       Psychological thriller - for example “alien” directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. 200 years after her death, Ellen Ripley is revived as a powerful human/Alien hybrid clone who must continue her war against the Aliens.
•       Psychological thriller - for example “The talented Mr. Ripley” directed by Anthony Minghella. In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.
•       Spy thriller - example “Salt”. Directed by Phillip Noyce, A CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
•       Western thriller - for example “high noon”. Directed by fred zinneman. A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him.
•       Action thriller - for example “Taken“ directed by Pierre Morel. A former spy relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been forced into the slave trade.
•       Romance thriller - for example “basic instinct”. Directed by Paul detective is in charge of the investigation of a brutal murder, in which a beautiful and seductive woman could be involved. Verhoevan.

Until next time... bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration

Thriller Genre - Conventions

Dear Readers,

The genre I have chosen is still all new to me, so now I know kind of the way I would like to go with the 2 minute Coursework Task i'm producing, I need to look up the key features and conventions that make a thriller good. 

Here is a few slides I produced after researching about it and then put to sounds and music etc...

Although I've mentioned sound and editing i'm not focusing on that in this blog, I am focusing on the conventions of a thriller and how the different techniques 

A very close type of genre to my Thriller one is Gothic Horror, as I noticed they consist of the same features however there are gothic horror conventions I like that aren't usual thriller features:

-  The camera strategically placed behind something e.g. a window/ bars - to give the effect of the audience being trapped.

- Filming the feet first to add unknownness to the character

Until next time people... bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration 

Thriller Genre - History behind

Dear Readers,

To understand my genre I need to look further into the history.

During the 1920s to 1930s:
      A man called Alfred Hitchcock made his first thriller, this being his third silent film in 1926 was called "the lodger." It was a Jack the Ripper type of story that was filled with suspense, which then led him onto his next thriller in 1926 which was called "blackmail." This was notable foe being his and Britain's first sound film. Then from 1935 most of Hitchcock's films where thrillers.



From a movie like this I note how important it is to use actions to portray words  as there were minimal words used and how important it was to use the right type of music to add suspense or fear.

     As the thriller film industry took off new types came into existence, such as 'crime thrillers' for example "Murders In The Zoo" by Edward Sutherland which was produced 1933 where Lionel Atwill played a murderous and jealous zoologist.


During the 1940s:
      Hitchcock continued to direct suspense thrillers, in this year he produced two films on of which was Oscar winning, these films were "Foreign Correspondent" and "Rebecca", Rebecca being the film which was Oscar winning.
       In 1941 he went on release a film called "Suspicion" This was about a women in danger from her own husband. During the next couple of year he released many more films including his own personal favourite "Shadow of a doubt" in 1943 which was based on true events.


       As time went on another type of thriller emerged called a 'psychological thriller' to which George Cukor's "Gaslight" of 1944 was the first. The film was about a husband who plotted to make his won if go insane n order to inherit her inheritance!  He went onto make a second one called "Noir" which is about a thrilling murder investigation.

During the 1950s:
       Hitchcock still continuing to create added "Technicolour" to his collection. This was the era of COLOUR! He produced more classic films such as "Strangers on a train" in 1951 which was about two train passengers who both staged battle of wits and traded murders with each other. He made 4 more movies in this time including the famous "Vertigo" in 1958.

        However the famous Marilyn Monroe made her appearance here when she preformed in Henry Hathaway's 1953 movie "Niagara" where she plays a character who plots to kill her husband.



During the 1960s:
      Hitchcock still progressing with his movie "Phsyco" in 1960 actually wasn't the first movie of this era! A director named Michael Powell's "Peeping tom" was the first movie out and it was about the psychopathic cameraman.

      However films such as Roman Polanski's 1965 movie "Repulsion" was released for the first time in English. This was a surrealist Thriller where a young woman who goes increasingly mad.
This era was filled with Thriller movies, some of which to mention are Terrence Young's "Wait until Dark" in 1967 was a famous thriller made about a victimised blind woman in her Manhattan apartment and a evil con man in search for drugs. Also movie such as "The triple cross" and "The deadly affair" both released in 1967.


During the 1970s - 1980s:
      This is when thrillers where hit by a violent wave. The 1972 "Frenzy", was Hitchcock's  first British film in almost two decades, given and R rating for it's explicit content.
     
       However famous films such as Steven Spielberg's low budget Tv movie "Duel" Clint Eastwood's "Play misty for me" both came out in 1971. These are two films that have scared the Thriller industry due to there individual obsessive behavouirs.

       Nevertheless the 80s brought us "Dressed to Kill" (18980), Assassination Thriller "Blow out" (1981) and "Body Double"

Finally 1990s - present:
        The 90s started with Rob Reiners "Misery" 1990 which was absed on a book by Stephen King, then in 1991 came "Sleeping with the enemy".
        The famous Jonathan Demme brought us "The silence of the lambs" in 1991 where a young FBI agent is in a phycological war against a cannibalistic psychiatrist named Hannibal Lector.
         David Fincher brought us "se7en" in 1995 which was about a search killer who conducted the seven deadly sins.

         Then the climb to present day saw films:

• Joy Ride (2001)
• The history of violence (2005)
• Cellular and Firewall (2006)
• P2 and Captivity (2007)
• Eden lake and Funny games (2008)
• Last house on the left (2009)
• Unknown - feat. Liam Neeson (2011)

So that's the knowledge I learnt about the profession of Thriller films.

So until next time...peeps!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration

Thriller Genre - General research

Dear Readers,

So now with my decided genre of a 'thriller' I though I should do some research of how to achieve a good thriller including the conventions.

The definition of a thriller is:

"Thriller is a genre of literature, film, video game story and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened exception, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to me adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast paced," - wikipedia

However due to my thriller only being 2 minutes of the beginning it won't reach the high of suspense as say the middle of the movie might reach because to create a full movie it would need to include"

• The protagonist faces death - either his/her own or somebody else.
• The force of the antagonist must be initially be clever and/or stronger then the protagonist.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be pulled down.
• The main plot focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The films narrative construction is dominated by the protagonists point of view.
• There may be a suspenseful and atmospheric soundtrack for the scenes of suspense.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in the presentation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice or the morality of individuals.
• The protagonist and antagonist battle 
• Either by  accident or by curiosity the character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are nor prepared for.

So, because mine is only  2 minutes i'll have only the key elements:

• Suspense - There may be a suspenseful or atmospheric soundtrack to the suspense
• Conflict/Situation - Either by accident or by curiosity the character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are nor prepared for.
• Mystery - an element of unknown goings on, so that the suspense is heightened.
• Known activity - an activity people can relate themselves in to increase fear within viewer.

Also there are many different sub- genres of thrillers such as:

1. Action Thriller e.g. Die Hard
2. Crime Thriller e.g. The Usual Suspects
3. Film- Noir e.g. Sunset Boulevard
4. Science fiction Thriller e.g. Aliens
5. Religious Thriller e.g. The devil's Advocate
6. Supernatural Thriller e.g. The Sixth Sense
7. Phycological Thriller e.g. Rear Window

The one that interests me the most has to the 'Phycological Thriller' so upon further research I found out that it has traits of a regular Thriller but a phycological thriller incorporates elements of drama and mystery films. The suspense is this sub-genre comes from the mind. The protagonists in phycological thrillers must rely on their mental resources to solve the situation. Because of their nature, many phycological Thriller cross over into the horror genre.

I decided I am going to focus my 2 minutes on a phycological thriller because it's open to interpretation on how you trick and use the mind as a factor of suspense!

So until next time friends... bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration

Typically good film openings

Dear Readers,

i am looking at film openings made by other directors as it is crucial to my research, so i can see how directors create their award winning movies...

For my Genre in particular, i like the 1996 movie 'scream's ' film opening...


“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

"Wes Craven’s self-aware sense of pitch-black humor is complimented only by his ability to engineer a freaky horror set piece, in this case one of the best of all time"  – Daniel Walber

I really like this because it's a situation i can relate myself too and in the first 4 minutes the viewer is already on edge, due to the music intensifying and the repetitive phone calls building up suspense.
The director Wes Craven also directed the nightmare on elm street and scream4. This director uses a specific dramatic technique because the music ran through out and the sounds are cleverly put together. This film opening is one i favour because i particularly like the girl home alone idea as it's the perfect setting to empathise with her, because you could imagine yourself in her shoes!

However in general i like these film openings...

Manhattan - Directed by Woody Allen

 "Chapter one…”
The music captures the many tempos of New York City and few movies capture its blend of anxiety and romance like Woody Allen’s black & white films. The opening lays down its inexpressible love for the city with rushed class, matching the fits and starts of Allen’s tortured monologue to the unstoppable drive of the music. In the end it is New York itself that wins, pushing past the script into a wordless celebration of its skyline and rhythm that can only explode into fireworks.
I like the voice over because it adds a depth of field to the opening, like a narrative that is speaking to the audience directly. I feel this is something i could encorperate within my 2 minute opening as it bring the effect of more than just a movie to watch but get involved with!

Clueless - Amy Heckering


"looking out a dirty old window..."
I LOVE this film opening because the music is really upbeat and starts the movie off to a good start, it also over laps in the opening titles so it allows the movie to flow from titles to the opening scene. I love the narrative over the top once again, especially how it's americanised over the top. I once again like the use of the girl character as the main character, it adds a unintended feeling of empathy.

Until next time readers... bye!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration