Danny's Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Challenge
In our thriller one of the key conventions that we have challenged is the plot. We have done this by showing the fixation of the stalker and more so that the antagonist and protagonist are actually interacting in conversation. This is shown by the top picture on the right from our thriller, instead of just not talking to the antagonist the protagonist has been talking to him, this is shown previous to the picture in the thriller the antagonist says "are you ignoring me now" this insinuates they have been talking previous to this message and then she reply's saying "leave me alone" (as shown in the picture above) this shows the non-stereotypical behaviour of the protagonist. Whilst in the typical thrillers such as Sleeping With The Enemy the (bottom picture, right) the antagonist stalks his wife's every move without her knowing, also he doesn't tell her that he is stalking her therefore there is no contact between the two. In the clip he stalks her at a fair without her knowledge so this is the key difference between ours and Sleeping With The Enemy is the knowledge of the protagonist to whats going on.

The second convention that i have challenged is that of having the title at the end of the opening section instead of following the usual thriller schedule and having the title as a big impact opening. We decided to put our title at the very end to build the effects of tension and mystery. This was done by making the audience wait to know what they are actually watching so it makes them think until the title reveals the goings on in our opening. The musical score also very much helped because the music built up to make it even more effective. Whilst on the other hand the typical thing to do is have the title at the start. This is normally done by having a loud musical score that introduces the film straight away to the audience. This is exactly what happens in the example of The Sixth Sense. What happens here is this puts the audience into a fright and makes them nervous before watching any of the opening to the film



 Developed

In our thriller we aimed to develop the thriller convention of voyeurism. We aimed at developing it by bringing it into the modern day and changing it from the usual, taking pictures or following their victim. We have developed it to show the risks of social networks and how someone can know nearly everything about you, get pictures of you and know your whereabouts from the small space of a study and just using a laptop. We aimed to do this in our thriller by not showing the traditional shot of somebody holding a developed picture, for example in One Hour Photo. Then we developed it by bringing it into the digital age by using props such as laptops, tablets and smart phones. This showed how we have updated into the modern world to show the different ways of being voyeuristic. Another way we developed this was that of location. We showed this by our man not having to move from his location to gain any additional information due to new technology.






The second convention we think we developed during our thriller opening is that of the credits.For our credits we have applied affect that reveals our credits slowly which makes the effect of tension by making the audience wait to read what the titles say. Also our credits very much related to our thriller as we added a sound bridge of typing so that it linked to the technology aspect of our opening. Also we very much went into depth with by that the font is the same as to that of twitter, which is were he stalks his victim. Also the stalker types to stalk her so it goes along with the whole storyline of our film. Also our thriller credits where seperate so it added to the effect of mystery by hiding the antagonist. For example the credits in The Talented Mr Ripley the credits are superimposed and they partially hide his face the credits so they develop the character's characteristics  by showing he is a very hidden character. The font used in that opening is off the 1950 age which also relates to the film.





Used
The first convention that we used is the thriller sub-genre crime. This thriller convention is used frequently due to them overlapping quite a lot in thrillers. Some thrillers are based just around the crime and discovering the antagonist. But crime thrillers are much more intense and the audience are much more on edge and they get the audience to think the whole way through. Our crime aspect was that of stalking. The key way we did this was that of the pestering of messages from the antagonist to the protagonist to all of her different devices. Messages of constant "hello xx" are shown to the audience to show that he is non stop bothering her. They are shown on different devices also to show he is coming at her from loads of different angles. We used binary opposition to show the extent of the crime thriller. We showed it by having the two characters seperate and having a massive contrast in light and in props and location. The lack of lighting showed who the antagonist was and what crime he was committing.
A thriller that used this effectively would be that of se7en which has all the stereotypical aspects of a thriller for example a crime and a detective for example.This shot shows an early clip in the opening once the crime had been commited. It opens like this so that it gives the audience a judgement as to what the film is going to entail.

The second convention that we used was binary opposition. This is when two things are the complete opposite to one an other. this is used the whole way through our thriller opening. To show the complete difference and contrast between the antagonist and protagonist. In the first shot the antagonist is in his study we showed that he was an antagonist by the dark lighting and hiding his identity. Whilst in the second shot its the protagonist in her bright room, doing classic stereotypical teenage girl things with normal teenage girl props like fashion magazines. we used this convention to show that there is something going on between the two characters and to show some of their characteristics.

Another thriller that does this is The Da Vinci Code. It uses binary opposition when the lighting is all dark around the antagonists face hiding his identity showing that he is the antagonist. the protagonist has a bright spotlight on him clearly showing him showing that he is the protagonist






















2.
How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

3.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The answer to this question is to be found on our Wikispaces page linked below.

http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Followed

4.
Who would be the audience for your media product ?

The type of person that would watch our film is somebody who is young around 15-25 and very sociable. The person goes out quite often with friends going to the cinema and socialising in local bars, clubs and resteraunts. Also our audience likes going to the cinema with their family also. This person is probably in university or college and they feel like they can relate to our film this is why we made our film as up to date as possible. The person who would go and watch our film would also be very trendy and fashionable, she/he shops in popular high street shops like topshop or river island.

We chose as a group to certificate our thriller film #Followed as a 15 we did this because some parts of the film may be seemed as disturbing. Also making it a 15 we believed we could add content that would make it more of a thriller, then what you could do with certifying it a 12


5.
How did you attract/address your audience ?

6.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?

Due to our thriller all being based around technology we were always using technology or filming technology being used because of #Followed being based around twitter. I am normally capable of using most technologies. With the technologies that we used i was already able to use twitter, apple macs and youtube. On the other hand i had never used the likes of blogger, prezi or final cut express or had the experience of using a video camera and tripod.

Twitter

This was one of the key pieces of technology that we used. This is because our whole thriller opening #Followed, is based around twitter. So we had to create twitter pages for each of the antagonist and protagonist, we then had to film at the correct times of arrival of messages and we had to make sure the noise of the message was easy for the camera to pick up and that it was clear. This was then where some problems occured, we had problems of messages not sending, noises not being loud enough and the filming not being timed correctly. I was fully capable of using twitter i was best at this technology then any other due to being an avid twitter user and knowing how to use each different section from tweets to direct messages.

Blogger

Another piece of software that we used was blogger. I had encountered blogger before when going on the internet so i knew what it was and what it was used for. But i had never had my own blog before and posted before. On the other hand I didnt find it very hard to get to grips with logging in and posting. As a group we were able to modify it so that its appearance was just how we wanted it to look. I feel the features of Blogger assisted and benefited our group to a great extent and assisted us to construct a successful account of our progress and actions for the planning and producing of our Thriller Opening. The ease of publishing work, uploading photos and the ability to embed videos promptly was important for us as a group to show things such as why we did things in our thriller, and analysing other thrillers. It was also very easy to show who did each post with tags and the topics of each post with titles. The text could be changed also with the themes all of this added to make our blogs look good and proffessional.

Camera/tripod

This was one of the hardest things that our group came up against whilst filming #Followed. No-one with the group had any previous experience in filming or using a video camera or tripod and this is where we found some difficulties. First of all, with the camera we didn't realise how key the standard of filming was to the final piece. Due to this we filmed in standard definition instead of high definition and because of this we had to re-film our whole thriller opening. On the other hand our problems with the tripod occured when docking the camera onto our first tripod it was wonky, therefore, we had to film some of the shots again. Another reason why the tripod was an issue was the legs had to be level to make sure the shot was straight. As you can see in the shot on the right, the camera is docked and level this shot was taken once we had realised what we had done wrong from the first time of filming and fixed it.

Final cut express

This was the editing software we chose to use to make the thriller opening for our film #Followed. Again no-one in our group had used this software before. This time before we actually made our thriller opening we practiced with the software when making our preliminary video. What we learnt from this was how key the transitions would be between each shot to make sure the opening looked clean. Once we finished our preliminary we found it much easier to use the basics of the software, for example uploading the videos into the software off the camera to putting them into position and cutting them. The things we struggled with the most was syncing the music with the credits and then getting the music to fit correctly with the video. But the more I used this software the more I felt I knew what I had to do to make the video work and look how I wanted, and I knew what we needed to do to change the certain things that needed changing. I think I would use this software again if making a video clip or different media clip.

Wikispaces

What we used wikispaces for was to create a page for our thriller opening #Followed. Previous to being told to use the website i had never heard of it. As a group we found it very easy to add pictures text and links to our page and it was very easy to use the site in general. I think we were able to use this site well due to all our previous work with the website Blogger.

Apple iMac

We used all these software's on Apple iMacs i found this quite easy due to me having an iMac at home. So my work pace was quite quick when navigating the internet and getting from software to software due to knowing shortcut keys on the keyboard. The keyboard is different to other computers on the iMac and because of this it does not have a # key which was key to our group due to our thriller film being called #Followed but my previous knowledge of Macs helped our group get around that issue quickly. The best thing about the Macs are that they could use the software final cut express with ease and this is what we edited our thriller on. Also they have iTunes which we used for the music used in our opening



 Prezi

Our group decided to include a variety of different programmes and technology to add to our Blog posts to make them more interesting; one of these programmes was an internet website, Prezi. Prezi is used as personal online slideshow creator, which virtually creates your slideshow in any way you want. I'm not very good at using this software because i havn't had any previous experience of it before we started using it in posts on our Blogger blogs. It was very helpful to use for our group because it let us show different ways of posting onto our blogs. For example i have used this software to answer my second evaluation question



7.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the preliminary i believe as a group we have learnt how to use the camera correctly depending on the scene and shot. Also we have seen the clear difference in standard definition and high definition, we made the mistake when filming so had to re-film our opening. This is our first attempt:

 and here is the much clearer HD version:

We also have identified the importance of mise en scene in giving a character a background and telling the audience about the character for example the props, lighting, clothing and location are all very important.

Aimee's Evaluation

1.In what ways does your media product Use, Develop or Challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Used

The first convention we used within our opening was incorporating the Thriller sub-genre, Crime. Many Thrillers will use this particular convention, as this convention frequently overlaps the Thriller genre. In numerous Thrillers that custom this convention, do to ensure the audience are lured into the Crime that is taking place, which influences them to attempt to solve the crime, or  doubt if it will be solved. Pure Crime films focus on a specific crime or set of crimes, which will solve a mystery, or tracking down the criminal, with little violence but more drama throughout. However Crime-thrillers have additional threat and suspense involved, which may also involve espionage, killings and other non-criminal conflicts. In our Thriller Opening this can be grasped from the start as the first clip is that of the victim’s phone receiving a direct message from the Stalker himself. We see that Ryan Smith has messaged the protagonist via Twitter saying ‘hello’; the message is shown to the audience when the message appears, and the phone makes a received message sound to show them the importance of  the message, and that it is a major  element in our Opening. The crime, stalking is concentrated at the start of our Thriller, although it may not be as clear to the audience as to what it is, the build up of tension and sense of mystery becomes inviting for the audience, as the build up until later in the Opening when it becomes clearer to them that she is being stalked is exciting.

A Thriller that uses this convention effectively is the Crime Thriller Se7en, which involves two detectives who are hunting a serial killer that uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. This is a shot of one of the earlier scenes in the Opening which establishes the crime to the audience that has been committed, murder. Although this is more of an obvious crime to start an opening with, it still portrays to the audience what the film will contain and entail, giving them the chance to react in a way the audience does in a Crime Thriller, by attempting to solve the mystery. I believe we have use the Crime sub-genre in our Thriller Opening successfully as the convention has established our Opening in a way that is effective, and enticing to our audience.

The second convention that was used within our Thriller Opening was the use of Binary Opposition, which is  established and used in many Thrillers, this is when a pair or related terms or concepts have an opposite in meaning, and are in contrast with one another. You can find Binary Opposition throughout the entire process of our Thriller Opening, to show the distinction between the Protagonist and Antagonist. These screenshot’s from our Thriller Opening are examples of how we used and adapted the lighting in the scene to create the Binary Opposition convention. The first screenshot is of the Protagonist in her bedroom with the brightness of the bedroom portraying a positive and content feel to it. In the second screenshot from our Opening you can see the contrast of the settings and how we established the binary opposition for the antagonist through the lighting; which is represented as sinister, darker and overall a less positive setting for the audience to be viewing, making them feel on edge as the binary opposition shows the less happy situation that is happening.  We used this convention in our Thriller Opening to draw the audience into the scene and introduce them to the opposing personalities and establish the antagonist and protagonist for them; in addition this shows the safe place, which is the more positive area, and the more dangerous, unnerving setting. 

An example of a Thriller that uses lighting to establish the Binary Opposition is The Da Vinci Code. The shot on the left is that of the protagonist in a lecture room giving a speech to students; as show he has a light only focusing on him, firstly to establish that he is an important leading role, but the lighting indicates he is positive and harmless. Whereas in the screen shot above that, the antagonist is in a threatening, dark light which makes him seem more frightening, which the lightening then additionally creates a intimidating, uneasy feel again for the audience as they can see that in contrast between the protagonist and the immoral character. I believe alike The Da Vinci Code we have used lighting to create part of our Binary Opposition convention well and represented the contrast in characters effectively. 

Developed

An example of a convention we have developed in our Thriller Opening is the use of voyeurism. In many films of this genre the convention Voyeurism is strongly used, from the greatest Producers such as Alfred Hitchcock. It is the practise of watching, or spying on people. In our Thriller Opening we developed voyeurism in a modern way with a technological approach, as we used iPads, iPhones, modern laptops and most importantly the Social Networking site, Twitter. Here I have inserted a shot from our Opening of the files created by the stalker on his laptop, this establishes the practise of espionage and spying as it reveals to the audience his obsession with the victim, through the viewpoint of his files, as we see the context of it and that he has documented his following’s of the protagonist.  As we can see there are files with array of different dates on them informing the audience that his following of the victim, has been happening for a while, causing them to feel tense and worried as they see the reality of the situation. The convention voyeurism also makes the audience feel uneasy as the spying by the antagonist is done as the audience are watching him and the camera is on a point-of-view shot implying that they are also following the victim through a voyeuristic approach,  resulting in a tense and on edge feeling.
A Thriller that developed Voyeurism when made was One Hour Photo, which at the time incorporated the newest technology, the one hour photo printing service, to establish the sense of voyeurism. The screen shot from one hour photo shows the images the stalker has collected through the service and technology that was used when the Thriller was being filmed; it is shots of a family he has become obsessed with. Alike our Thriller he has collected these images and kept them for his own personal pleasure but made them into a collage of printed photographs, whereas in our Opening we put them into files as that is the most recent form of technology to organise records. I feel our Thriller established the convention as well as One Hour Photo has, as it created records and a timeline to portray to the audience the extent of the antagonist’s voyeurism, in a modern way. The convention affects the audience in a way that makes them uncomfortable to be viewing, and distressing for them to view, whilst still keeping them interested to see what the antagonists have discovered or found whilst getting involving with espionage. 

The other convention we have developed in our opening is the way we have applied the use of Editing, more specifically the hyper suitable way we have created our Credits. We have used a typing effect to slowly reveal to the audience what is being written, this is a familiar way to how in a Thriller the audience are slowly exposed to revelations, through a build up of tension and anxiety. The credits were designed and developed appropriately in addition to the build up of tension as they are connected to the technology based theme in our Opening; the stalker uses new forms of technology in the Opening to follow the victim, this involves typing, which is incorporated to display our Credits. The font used is that alike to the font used on Twitter, or on a classic website; we developed the credits further through the font chosen to try and bring in all forms of the technology used to really elaborate on the crime, and portray it in the Credit sequence. We additionally developed our Credits by inserting a typing sound over the credits, as we felt it was an extra link to the technology used and emphasise the idea of the male stalker typing. The shot of the image is that of part of our Credit sequence, we used this clip to show the font, the typed names so far, but also show the name being slowly typed and revealed in the last one, half completed. 

This can be seen, in a Psychological Thriller that successful established this convention well, The Talented Mr. Ripley. The film is about a man who hides his true personality whilst attempting to complete a job he has been sent to do. The credits and editing are extremely hyper suitable as we see a slow revelation of the antagonist’s identity through the use of shards slowly coming down, revealing his face on a black screen; this gives the impression that throughout the film the exposure of the characters personality will start to show and get portrayed to the audience, revealing more of him than originally were aware of. There is an example of these credits in the screen shot, which additionally shows the font used as an old typewriter font. This can also be linked to the film as it is set in the 1950’s making it appropriate of its time. I feel our group has developed the use of editing for our credits, as the effect used establishes and complements the film making them extremely fitting to our Opening. 


Challenged

A convention we have Challenged in our Thriller is the plot, specifically the interaction and communication between the victim and stalker, and the extent of the antagonist’s fixation. This is unusual in most Thrillers as many protagonists, do not cooperate with the antagonist, or exchange conversation at all, certainly not over a social networking site on the internet. In this particular shot, you see only the response from Lucy, “Leave me alone”; this is presented simply on its own, on Twitter’s direct message format. This is because in previous clips you see Ryan Smith attempting to get in contact with her over this message, so the audience know who this message is from, who it is too and her purpose for sending it. We created this to provide a different take on a ‘classic’ stalker film, as the interaction makes the audience feel tenser as they want her to stop talking to him, as the viewers know he is bad and dangerous, possibly more than the victim knows herself. This convention additionally involves the technology more, by presenting it as an easy and risky way that a stranger may contact you; which the audience can simply relate to, as it is modern. We created this shot with the help of the laptop, camera and tripod, giving us that advantage to do a close up, stable shot, which is bold and dominant for the audience to see. 

A contrast to our challenged convention , the Thriller Sleeping with the Enemy, grasps the ‘typical Thriller’ well, by having the jealous ex-husband classically stalk his ex-wife by following her every move, without her potentially knowing he is, as he does not try to contact her, thus they are not communicating with each other. This is an image of the situation in the film where he is following the ex-wife and her new boyfriend to a funfair and watching them on the Ferris wheel. This shows that he is tracking her, in person mainly, and keeping himself out of sight. By doing this the audience are in the unknown as to whether he will let her know his is stalking her, and if he will do anything about it. This gives the victim ‘Laura’ no chance to escape him, as she is unaware of what he is doing. Although this is a strong convention we chose against this as we felt the tension, suspense and distressing situation of him contacting her, and her replying, was a intense convention in our Opening, which we challenged well to give the audience a new approach to a ‘stalker’ situation and gives them the mystery and uncertainty of how an antagonist and protagonist conversation will affect the victim and keep them in anticipation and distress.Another convention we have challenged is the usual running order of the credit sequence, as the Title of our film is at the end of our opening sequence. The infrequent technique of this does not appear this way in most Thrillers as the title is used as an imperative and dominant way to open a Thriller. We have decided to step away from this typical convention and place the title at the end to create an anxious and tense tone to the opening which keeps the audience in the unknown as to what they were possibly viewing. I believe this challenged convention worked to our advantage as the credits were over when the title came, and in fact was the Opening overall, which excited and geared up the audience to want to view more of what they briefly saw. This convention was helped by the music and build up of the credits additionally. This was our intention when we placed the Title at the end, therefore making us and the convention successful for its purpose.

In the Thriller, The Sixth Sense, they have intentionally placed the title at the start of the Thriller Opening and credit sequence. The title is immediately after the first actor and main characters name has appeared in the sequence, and with the appearance of the Title the piece of music creates a surprising louder, frightening sound, leaving the audience feeling anxious but also informing them of the title. The remainder of the credits are therefore after this. I believe The Sixth Sense credits creates a well rounded amount of tension and mystery as none of the film, or camera work has yet to be revealed although the style of the credits and music makes the audience feel uneasy.  Challenging this convention has increased our Thriller’s intensity and tension to create an exciting Opening for the audience, which also is fitting for our overall sub-genre and feel.  

2.How does you media product represent particular social groups?

 My Prezi on the question, How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

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

The answer to this question is to be found on our Wikispaces page linked below.

http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Followed

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The individual that would watch our Thriller opening varies depending on a range of reasons, such as their age, class, interests and location along with many other factors. Our model audience member will be fully explained in this question.

Eleanor Fletcher, who is known as Elle is a 20 year old University Student. She is currently studying Photography at a University in London; she is single but has a large group of male and female friends, who are frequently out in the cities, indie scene. Above all she mainly enjoys Crime Thrillers as she is attracted to the espionage and suspense related to them; furthermore she enjoys the criminality and illegality of it all. Other genre’s she enjoys to watch are romance, documentaries and dramas. Elle is very passionate with Art, and from this it shows she has a creative personality, that was extended into her pursuit in Photography. Her time is spent looking around Exhibitions and the internet’s wide range of websites, such as internet blogs, along with her networking profiles, on Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube, where she interacts with other users and watches many videos that interest her. Elle is most interested in the less mainstream music, but prefers the alternative bohemian lifestyle. Elle wears a variety of different brands and appropriate clothes for her individual style and personality; she usually shops at high-street stores and vintage stores to accomplish this. One of Eleanor’s most important factors to life is that her family is the most important to her, which in an result of this visits her family regularly, and generally spends a lot of time with them. Elle spends her money on what she loves best, spending time with her friends, and going out; with the boys and girls she frequently tries out the new places in town, and makes sure she can visit the cinema as much as possible, to see her favourite genre’s new films. Eleanor trusts her values to respect herself and others, and treating everyone the same, additionally to this her create photography eye gives her the advantage to see the world for how it is and be appreciative for what she has, and how she lives. Although she has a busy and fulfilling life she also likes to have time to herself and step away from the bustling city, by watching films and being on her laptop.

Our group decided that our Thriller Opening audience would be those of the ages of 16-22. As the context and the happenings of our Opening may be distressing and upsetting for a younger audience, in contrast to this an older audience will be more suitable and fitting as the intricate and deep storyline will be much easier for them to understand and accept. Our ideal Class was the middle class type, and student type which I feel we have achieved as we will distribute in smaller, cheaper Art House Cinema’s to start with. We felt our ideal audience member would be both male and female; the females would be able to relate to the victim as she is a young teenage girl Lucy, which they will feel tense for as they may have a strong motherly instinct to be worried. A male audience was also fitting as our antagonist main character is a male, which we found is what Male prefers, than a female main character. Our target audience were most interested in realism, which I feel we attained well, along with suspense and tension, which we were also successful for achieving. 





5.How did you attract/address your audience?To answer this questions we have placed annotation onto our finish Official Thriller Opening '#Followed', below. It can also be found on our YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TsunamiStudiosMedia



I personally believe our group has enticed and delivered to our audience well, as we as achieving to meet expectations and consider the audiences reaction, and views when viewing our Thriller Opening.

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

Throughout the making and assembling of the Thriller Opening to our film #Followed, I have expanded my knowledge on a range of the different technologies that we have used both online and offline. I have previously worked with a small minority of these various technologies such as Photoshop and the social networking site Twitter, although I have come across most in the past. I have learnt a great deal more now I have worked and practised with this equipment. 

Apple iMac 

Our first step in creating this blog was to use the Apple iMac to do so. This was my first encounter of using an Apple iMac, and without the previous knowledge and know-how I had minor issues at operating this technology. I found it particularly tricky to use at first as I had only encountered Windows format on computers. After getting the general idea of the iMac I began to work at a faster pace, and use it without difficulty. A gained the know-how to quickly start up the device and the programmes we were going to use, so our group could start work immediately. The iMac was vital to our group and our work as it is what we made use of to edit our production, along with the programme Final Cut Express. I feel the iMac had every function and purpose our group needed to accomplish our Thriller Opening, and I have very pleased by the way it worked.

Blogger

Our next programme our group had to encounter was Blogger. Prior to this task I had no experience of using Blogger though I had encountered it before; It was not a concern that I hadn't used it before as I found it simple to pick up. Once picked up I was able to modify the design of the blog and create blog posts efficiently and successfully. This assisted the making of our production as it is fundamental to have this quality and skill to create our blog for our planning and making of our Thriller Opening. Blogger's functions impressed me as I was able to adapt the layouts, fonts, backgrounds for the needs of our group and make the blog personal to us and perform and serve the way we required it too. A feature that additionally made me impressed with it was that it had the ability to effortlessly and successfully connect to our other programmes we were using, as a result of this being able to show on our Blog the other work we have been involved in, such as on YouTube and Prezi. This was easy to do as we just embedded a link onto our blog post and publish it; this helped us connect extensively over the Internet. I feel the features of Blogger assisted and benefited our group to a great extent and assisted us to construct a successful and professional account of our progress and actions for the planning and producing of our Thriller Opening. The ease of publishing work, uploading photos and the ability to embed videos promptly was important for me and our group as it assisted us into working proficiently right through the production. 

YouTube

YouTube is a site I am accustomed to but still have not exerted myself to using before and have very little experience with a YouTube account myself. As a group we used YouTube as the basis for uploading our production and pieces of work for our preparation (Preliminary Task and our Voice Overlay Storyboard). I felt using this programme was simple as the settings, and uploading was straightforward, quick and useful. An feature of YouTube I worked with was editing by tagging and placing annotations on our videos  which I found straightforward and additionally very helpful to our production as we were able to find what we needed to work on and annotate it to make is clearer for us and possibly viewers. This was an effective way to upload our content however it has aided us by receiving feedback from viewers instantly, which meant we could assess our audiences opinions and correct any needed changes to be completed as a result of this. YouTube has been a delight to use as of its simplicity and ability to connect with everyone, without having to be professionally able to do so. It has been thoroughly valuable to our group and the making of our Thriller Opening and I would be happy and able to work with it again.

Prezi
Our group decided to include a variety of different programmes and technology to add to our Blog posts to make them more interesting; one of these programmes was an internet website, Prezi. Prezi is used as personal online slideshow creator, which virtually creates your slideshow in any way you want, which I previously have has one experience of this website, but very little compared to the creating of slideshows for our posts. I found it slightly daunting to use at first, though the more I have worked with it overtime, I have happier and able to work with the layout and design of the website more and I have used my knowledge of it to produce my own presentation (such as Question 2). I am proficient at modifying text, recreate my own slideshow path viewer and alternating it to insert  images and more information I wanted in the Slideshow. I found Prezi very useful to me and the group to a great extent for our Blog, its exciting and diverse way of presenting information adds varied Posts. I would certainly suggest Prezi to use it for a variety of presentations in the future as it is so successful, and enjoyable to work with.

Final Cut Express 

To edit our filmed pieces we had to use Final Cut Express, which before our Preliminary never had used before. I feel with this technology I was most anxious and uneasy to use, as I sensed there was a lot to learn without it being easy to pick up. However I feel our Preliminary Task was the practise for me, to be able to learn the in’s and out’s of the programme. I gained knowledge of how to import videos off the camera we filmed with, how to slot clips together as well as manipulate the duration and size of each individual cut and how to render the clip as a whole. Using this practise I found that it was an ideal time for me, and our group to play about with our clips as little or as much as we liked to tailor our needs and wants. After the Preliminary task the prospect of using this piece of software to edit our footage became less daunting as I learnt the basics of this programme, although I knew there was much more I need to discover to make our Thriller Opening perfect. Our group decided to further our research into Final Cut Express by editing our Voice over Storyboard for our Thriller Opening. Now finishing our Opening and being even more knowledgeable with this programme, I am able to trim footage, adjust audio, add in a variety of effects and include transitions. I was impressed with this software as of its many features it contains, to help you create a clip you are happy with, which I feel I really benefited from and I enjoyed working with this piece of software. Final Cut Express is a great programme and has been significant to our group’s process; I would be content to work with it again. 

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
I and my group had no prior experience of using this website, nevertheless it was simple and straightforward to use. We used the website site to find and obtain royalty-free music for our Thriller Opening. It was very basic and easily explored and downloaded the music we found appropriate for our Thriller on the website. I found this site very helpful as we found some well composed copyright free music to possibly use, in the end two were involved in our Opening. 

Wikispaces

Previously I had never encountered this website before but had known of Wikipedia, fortunately it was simple to use, and manage for what we needed. It was straightforward to join the site it and set up our own page for our Thriller Opening #Followed. It was then effortless to add text, images, links and photo's, additionally what is a nice feature on this website is that it has a tutorial for you if you require it. As a group we were able to both save and publish work easily and effectively, which I feel Blogger helped us learn this type of format.  This webpage was useful to our group and I would consider using it again. Our Wikispace is in Question 3. 

Camera 

The camera our group used for filming a HD Cannon. I had very little knowledge or previous experience using this particular camera, although I found it effortless to pick up and learn how to use, as they have a very simple format. Again from our Preliminary task I was quick to learn the basics such as zoom on our clip, pause, capture, turn on and off, take photo's and playback and view previous footage. A problem we encountered during filming was soon fixed by gaining some knowledge of definition, firstly we shot in SD and looking back onto the footage our group worked out the problem and were then able to shoot in High Definition giving our opening a much better quality and professional look. The camera overall assisted us greatly as it was simple to learn the different features of it and use them which meant we had a much better level of footage. This camera would be a pleasure to work with again as it was the perfect to work with for what we needed. 

Tripod 

For the filming of our opening we used a tripod to steady the camera for all of our shots to be certain all our shots were smooth. The tripod used was straightforward to set up and use although we encountered a problem when we found a screw was loose leaving the tripod not being able to hold the camera by itself and making the slots slightly slanted. This was soon fixed as we were able to replace the Tripod with another usable one. Yet without the tripod our shots would not be straight, stable and clear, consequently it proved to be an extremely useful piece of equipment as it was easy to move about and adjust to what we need for our shots, such as it being on top of a desk. I feel it was a great advantage for us whilst filming and would recommend anyone who wants steady shots to use one.
On the left is an image of our set-up in the antagonists scenes, with the Tripod and Camera.

Twitter
As a group we were challenged by working with the online social network Twitter, as this was a main component of our Thriller Opening #Followed, as this shows by the hash tag in our Title. I and my group were all very comfortable working with this website as we all have our own personal input into it, previous to working with it we already knew out to direct message, tweet and modify the settings to your liking. This site was straightforward and easy to use, although getting alerts whilst filming was found difficult but we managed to operate and film around this problem. I am happy with working with Twitter as it is a modern piece of technology which aided us into creating a very interesting thriller opening, I would be happy to use it again.

Overall I believe these pieces of technology and equipment have helped us to a great extent through the filming, editing and production of our Thriller opening. As a group we feel that it has given us a skilled and professional final product, which having that form of quality is of great significance for us. These pieces of technology created an exciting and interesting opening that without them would look very different and I believe somewhat worse. In general I and my group have learnt a lot from the production of our Thriller opening when working with the technology we have, and personally I have increased my overall knowledge noticeably  from it, which makes me feel I have achieved and gained something from it. I am appreciative of having the chance to work with such software.

7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The answer to this particular question is below on our Preliminary Task as it features annotations to explain what we have learnt throughout the process.

From the Preliminary Task I individually feel I have learnt a great deal, which also prepared me our final production for our Thriller Opening. It specifically helped me practise and gain confidence how to use the equipment, technology and software which was fundamental and crucial to carry out this task. The Preliminary Task taught me a great deal more as we had to slightly research and plan, and from the knowledge of this we additionally planned more for our official opening, and were aware we needed to do so, by studying the Thriller genre further.


I have looked back onto our first attempt of filming and editing our Thriller Opening and realised our group learnt from our mistakes, and improved our Opening greatly. 

Although this filming and editing was a fault to our production, I feel that it assisted our group as we were able to learn plenty from it. For instance, we made the mistake of filming in SD firstly, when starting to edit, we realised this and found the quality was unacceptable for our opening, and had to re-film in HD. Although at the time we saw this as a big problem, in the long run it helped our final product greatly. 

Anna's Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


Used

A convention we have used within our opening sequel of #Followed is Binary Opposition which is identified and used in many other thrillers. It is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning such as light/dark, good/bad, warm/cold. Throughout our thriller opening, you will approach Binary Opposition all the way through as the shots have cut between the antagonist and the protagonist to emphasise the good and bad sides of the plot. The screenshots taken from our thriller opening represent how we have used Binary Opposition, for instance in both shots, we tried to adjust the lighting and props to help portray the good and evil. For example when looking at the protagonist's scene, it is shown in a brightly lit teenager's bedroom which symbolises that she is the protagonist to the audience as she is represented in a positive light. Whereas the over the shoulder shot of the antagonist shows the dark and sinister effect he has on the camera and establishes to the audience that they should be against him due to the negative light given off. These two shots show a great contrast between them, representing the convention Binary Opposition.



An example of a thriller that also uses this type of Binary Opposition is The Da Vinci Code where the switch of scenes of good/bad is also made. However in the opening of this example, the antagonist is shown in action before the protagonist which is the opposite to our opening. The shot of the lecture room is that of the protagonist in a more positive light presenting a lecture to the students also with the beam of light focused on the speaker, it identifies his importance and that he is a harmless individual. Whereas the shot of the pale man holding the gun, known as the antagonist in this situation and throughout the film is presented in a negative light in relation to our over the shoulder shot of the antagonist. We decided to relate our use of binary opposition to The Da Vinci Code as it has a similar situation to our opening and for example as shown in the antagonist's shots, the camera and lighting make out just the outline of the individuals. I believe we have represented this convention well and effectively.



  Another convention we have inserted into our thriller is Crime, however we have used it in an unusual way to other thrillers involving crime. In our opening we see the action taking place before the crime scene which is shown in the middle of the film which makes it different to other crime thrillers. We have used the element of crime to at to the suspense and action in our thriller involving the stalking situation. This will hopefully entice a different type of audience who prefer for example, a crime thriller to a psychological thriller. When comparing our thriller to the film Se7en, the shot shown below shows a scene right at the beginning of the film of a murder investigation which not only emphasises the crime element of Se7en but it puts you at the heart of the action. Whereas our opening consists of the continuity of messaging between the antagonist and the protagonist which persists to the crime scene later investigated in the film.
I feel we have used this convention well as it shows that not all crime thrillers start off with a detective scene like Se7en which represents a 'typical' crime thriller. We have represented this convention in a built up way by not revealing the crime scene before the film digs into the plot which adds to the effect of suspense.      




Developed

A convention we have developed would be the use of Voyeurism as though someone in our opening is being watched. Voyeurism really adds to the effect of suspense in our thriller and builds up the mystery as to whom the male character is. During the opening of #Followed, a few shots after the antagonist is presented, shows numerous files that he has created due to his immense obsession with the young girl. These shots really emphasise the plot and his personality as the audience begin to realise what the film is about and how long this obsession has been going on due to the number of dates situated underneath the files.

An example of a thriller that also uses this convention is One Hour Photo which is also about a man who stalks his family and produces photos of them throughout a period of time. This is shown in the shot to the right which also shows the numerous photos he has collected. By using the effect of voyeurism, it makes the audience feel insecure and uncomfortable of the situation shown which is the aim of the thriller. I feel we have distributed this convention well and similar to the way One Hour Photo has done so and I believe it gives off a great effect and adds to the sense of mystery.

  Another convention we have included in our opening sequence would be the way we have applied the use of Editing for example how we have presented our arrangement and style of credits. Throughout the opening, the titles on screen have had a typing sound inserted in the background to help draw the effect to the audience that the antagonist (shown typing on laptop in middle of opening) is typing out the credits. This also links to the technology use in our thriller as the stalker uses new forms of technology in the opening to follow the victim as it involves typing which is incorporated to display our credits. When thinking of the particular font to insert, we did some research and decided to select the font used on Twitter which was 'Georgia'. I think this works really well as not only does it link to the social network but it gives off a great effect.

In relation to this convention, we have selected The Talented Mr Ripley as an example which is about a man who hides his true personality whilst attempting to complete a job he has been sent to do. In the opening credits, the main character is revealed in a certain way in which only parts of his identity are shown as lines are still covering his face and surrounded by a black background. This indicates to the audience that the film slowly reveals the characters identity throughout the film. The font used in the credit sequence really relates to ours as you can tell the font was created to represent a typewriter. This can also be linked to the film as it is set in the 1950's making it appropriate of its time. I feel that our group have developed this convention of editing for our credits as we thought about the establishment of the opening and how the font and style of credits can relate to the plot which the producers of The Talented Mr Ripley must have considered.

Challenged

A convention we have challenged in our opening sequel is how the protagonist is aware that she is being stalked by the antagonist which is shown as a twist in our plot. This is an unusual occurrence in thrillers as most of them involve the protagonist being unaware of the situation and continuing her life as normal. Especially involving a social networking site such as Twitter, I believe the film is more attracted to our target audience and the audience today, in the modern world. In this particular shot, the screenshot shows how the protagonist has replied to the stalker which shows that she is aware of the situation by replying with "Leave me alone" which is presented in a Twitter Direct Message format. The audience know who this message is to due to the fact that Ryan is shown previously typing and sending messages which are identified on screen. We produced this outcome to provide a different take on a 'classic' stalker film which would hopefully make the audience feel unsettled and tenser as they want the girl to stop talking to him and take stronger action.  The convention also adds to the involvement of technology as the social networking portrays to the audience that the internet isn't safe to teenagers in which the audience can relate to due to this currently happening in the modern world.

In contrast we have used the film Sleeping with the Enemy as an opposing example. In this thriller film, the opposite situation is happening in comparison to our thriller film. -The protagonist is unaware that she is being stalked by her ex-husband. Sleeping with the Enemy grasps the 'typical' stalker thriller well, as it builds up suspense at the beginning making the audience to believe that it isn't much of a thriller however by the middle it digs deep into the story of the antagonist stalking his ex-wife and why that is the case. Whereas in our thriller, the protagonist is aware of the situation and tries to act against the antagonist. In the shot shown of Sleeping with the Enemy shows the antagonist watching his ex-wife and her new boyfriend at a funfair going on the Ferris wheel. This establishes that the man is tracking her vigorously in person mainly whilst keeping out of sight. This shows the comparison to our thriller as not only is in based around twitter but the stalking is not shown in person especially without her knowing.
Although this is a strong convention we chose to challenge, it greatly shows how we attempted to not provide the audience with a 'typical' stalker film but a different take on it. Whilst watching it we also felt the tension and suspense build up as you would in Sleeping with the Enemy however each having slightly different situations and timings.

Another convention we challenged is the normal running of the opening credits as we have placed the title of the film at the end of the opening sequence. This is an unusual approach to use as the title is usually situated at the start of a film to symbolise the importance and dominance of the film. We decided to insert the title of our film ('#Followed') to add to the sense of mystery and tension the audience will feel as they will be guessing as to what they are indeed watching. Looking back at the opening we created, I believe that this convention worked really well as some of the people who took a watch at our opening responded excitedly and wanted to watch more after it had finished. The music and the pace of the scenes also adds to this particular move.

In the thriller title The Sixth Sense, have in contrast to us placed their thriller title at the beginning of the credit sequence however having said this the title at the start is also effective but I feel it fails to portray any tension to the audience. This is where I believe that by challenging this convention we have done well and succeeded the insertion of the tension and mystery as it is followed by the title of our film which also fits into the style of the sub genre and thriller.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have created a prezi to present the different social groups we have tried to represent in our opening and describe how we have shown them.

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

This answer will be shown on our Wiki Spaces page:

http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Followed


4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience is based around the fact of how different technology has been used in a thriller therefore, our audience would have to have an interest in disturbing and technological films. They would also have to be updated with the modern world today to be able to understand the storyline.

Sammie Burr is a fashionable young girl around the age of 19 who enjoys chilling at home and watching various thriller sub genres instead of a night out as she is greatly interested in the suspense and mystery involved. She comes across as a shy but a bubbly girl once relaxed when comfortable and prefers a psychological thriller over any other sub genres. Sammie enjoys listening to less mainstream music which includes the genres such as Indie rock and relaxing acoustic music. She is currently studying English Literature at a University in London which she enjoys greatly and she lives in her flat with a 2 good friends. Her class would be considered as middle as she earns a fair amount at her job in the fashion store Urban Outfitters but still earns for a living and becomes bankrupt at times although her parents in Manchester lend her some money when times are tough. She tends to spend her money on fashion, gadgets but most of the times as she is a University student she uses her money to buy food and pay her rent once a month.
She believes in equality and fairness of humans and values her family time hugely whom she visits regularly. She isn't religious but on Christmas Eve each year, she likes to spend some time going to church each year.
Her favourite films include The Sixth Sense, Taken, The Talented Mr Ripley and One Hour photo. However she does enjoy a good romantic comedy such as The Notebook or  Confessions of a Shopaholic.

As a group we feel that this particular person from our target audience would enjoy our film as we have based the plot around the modern world today as we have included the social networking sites such as Twitter. As we have portrayed this individual liking to spend money on gadgets, her attention will also be attracted to liking this film as we have involved a smartphone, tablet and laptop as shown in our opening.


5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The answer to this question is featured in our end product '#Followed' located on YouTube. (Also can be found on our YouTube channel).
http://www.youtube.com/user/TsunamiStudiosMedia

We have included annotations and notes on our video, I personally believe that we as a group delivered to our target audience well and met their expectations accordingly.


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

Throughout our thriller opening, we have presented and used a variety of different technologies and learnt various techniques to make our production better. As a group, we have all managed to expand our knowledge on the technologies we used, online and offline. Especially as our film opening is based around the social network of Twitter, it demonstrates how technology has changed over a period of time and it taught us how to use it as well as film on it.

Blogger

As a group, we all have used blogger to show our work on creating our media product, from the creation of planning and finishing with this evaluation. Having encountered Blogger on the internet before, I had a decent knowledge of how to use it and publish posts. It helped me to learn different ways of presenting my work, from uploading prezis and survey monkey questions to a YouTube video. When styling our blog to the public, we wanted to show the aesthetics we have by creating it in a modern and eye capturing way. We were able to test out different fonts and arrange it in a certain way which turned out well as our blog relates to our production company, Tsunami Studios. We decided to incorporate waves into our background as we felt it symbolised a Tsunami and by having the font in a light blue, it helps establish and remember our production company.

Twitter
As our opening is #Followed, it indicates that the film is based around the social network of Twitter therefore we had to create a couple of accounts for our characters. However by already having a well used account on Twitter myself, I was able to use it efficiently and easily. Before we started filming, we created two accounts for Lucy Jones and Ryan Smith which worked well. With my knowledge of twitter we were able to make the accounts realistic and appropriate for the personalities of our characters. For example, we made sure that the background of Lucy's profile was feminine so we chose purple as it comes off to the audience as innocent and young and created various 'Tweets' about her lifestyle by tweeting a status like 'Great night with the girls' which would show she is fairly outgoing and that anyone can read that status.
To produce more popularity of our production company  we made a Twitter account for Tsunami Studios. This helped give us more knowledge of Twitter by creating the profile before filming and making the character's profiles.
This online programme was easy and simple to use although filming on it was particularly hard as filming a laptop screen doesn't come out in the best quality of imagery.

Prezi
Using the online software, Prezi was fairly simple and easy to use and understand. We used it to present our work on it in a particular style to make our posts more interesting, exciting and presentable. Prezi is used as an online slideshow creator which presents your work as a three dimensional images when selecting the correct template. However the layout of the software did confuse me a little when first starting to use it as it was quite complex, although now i am able to create an online slideshow, it has enabled me to alter text, shapes, insert images which helped me a lot. Personally I believe Prezi has also benefited me and the group greatly as it is an exciting and different way of presenting information with it's path viewer in which you can direct the path of what is viewed. I would certainly recommend Prezi and intend to use it for a variety of presentations in the future as it is so successful.

Apple iMac
Having to use iMac to do our work on and not encountering one before, I didn't have the knowledge to use it quickly and knowingly. However as we began to use it more and more, I can now use it well and  efficiently. The iMac was essential to us as it contains what we used to edit our production, Final Cut Express. The iMac was a perfect choice as it enabled us to become quick at doing our work and made it easier at doing so. I believe it benefited our group greatly.




Final Cut Express
In order to edit our production, we had to use Final Cut Express, a software located on the iMac. Personally, I have never encountered Final Cut and was probably the technology I felt most uncomfortable using. However after using it for our Preliminary Task, I felt much more familiar with the programme as I learnt the basis of importing clips/videos and how to slot clips together as well as arrange the length and size of each individual clip. At first sight the prospect of having to operate Final Cut was quite daunting as there is so much to think about and do but other a period of time and after we completed our preliminary task, I felt much more comfortable with using this piece of software.
As a result of this, I am now able to edit footage and audio and add in a variety of effects, for instance different transitions such as cross dissolve.
Now having the knowledge of how to use Final Cut Express, I really enjoy using it and it helped our group hugely when creating our film opening.

YouTube
In contrast to Final Cut Express, YouTube is a site I am most familiar with and I have had a lot experience with using it as I encounter it everyday. As a group we used YouTube as our main site for uploading our work for example, our Preliminary task and our storyboard. When coming across to the point of adding and editing annotations onto our work, I found it simple to use with my knowledge. Not only was YouTube easy to operate but it was simple to receive replies and opinions on our work which helped us to improve the piece of work and evaluate people's opinions. Overall, YouTube has been a delight to use which has made uploading our work as a group much more easier and the effectiveness has been great.








Wikispaces
I have never come across this site before although I found it rather simple to use as I know it's linked site of Wikipedia. Once you have joined the site, it is very easy to use and create your own online page which enabled us to insert pictures and text. This was a very useful website as it enabled us to promote our film opening.


Camera/Tripod
The camera we ended up using in the end was a HD Cannon which did the job really well. Previously I have had no experience using this type of camera but in the end I found it easy to control. However, when using the camera and also the tripod, we encountered a problem which was soon fixed by gaining some knowledge of definition, at first we shot a few scenes in SD and when looking back on our footage, my group and I realised the problem and then we shot the footage in HD giving our production a much better quality and professional look. I found it quick to use the handheld HD Cannon camera as learning the basics was easy as the on/off button was simple to locate and using zoom in/out, pause and capture was easy to find as well. What was really useful about using this particular camera was it enabled us to take photos as evidence of filming our production.
When figuring out how to use a tripod for the first time, I found it easy to adjust the height and angle of it best suitable for filming with the camera. However, we also encountered a problem when using the tripod we found a screw loose which made our shots we had captured a bit slanted as the tripod couldn't hold the camera steady at times. This was soon fixed because we were able to replace the tripod with a newer and better one which gave us better, more steady shots. Yet without the tripod, our shots would not be straight, stable and clear, and it became easy to move about which gave us the access of placing it on a desk to improve the shots of the laptop screen.
Both the camera and the tripod were great pieces of equipment to use as we wouldn't have been able to create quality shots without them. I would recommend both and use them again if wanted a steady and clear shot.

Survey Monkey
When researching our target audience, Survey Monkey was a great help as it enabled us to make an online survey which is easy for the audience to answer and use. By creating an online survey, it benefited us hugely as we were able to post it on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter which produced more and more opinions and responses. After the collection of results, I made the responses more clear to the public by creating pie charts on Microsoft Office Excel where I produced a spreadsheet and copy and pasted the pie chart onto my post. This also made it easier for me to evaluate the answers and figure out who our target audience is.
Survey Monkey was a great use of help and easy to and I would recommend it and I would personally happily encounter it again.



7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The answer to this question is featured in our video of our Preliminary Task which includes annotations surrounding the clips and shots. These will explain the progression from our test run to our full product.



After the preliminary task, I felt I had learnt a bit more knowledge on using the specific camera and tripod which really helped when it came to filming our full product. It really helped me gain some more confidence at filming and working with the rest of the group. As we had to research and plan out our official thriller opening, it taught me more of how to use the equipment and online software and technology.







Below shows the first attempt at filming our full product. It demonstrates the mistakes that could go wrong and how we improved it by filming again to get it right.

Although this filming and editing piece was a fault to our production, by looking at the end product it shows how we changed our filming method around and made it better. For example, we made the mistake of filming in SD rather than HD which made a big difference to filming, therefore we had to film again and the quality ended up being much better as we learnt from this mistake.