Thriller Opening - final product

Here is my thriller opening 'Dark Room'

Question 7

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

Created using Visme. Free Online Presentation Software.

Question 6

Question 5

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience? 

Question 4

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Maslow's hierarchy

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory containing a five tier model of human needs. The hierarchy can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The deficiency needs are said to motivate people when they are not met.The longer the need is left, the stronger it will become. 

My media product links to a physiological feeling as well as the feeling of safety and security. In my thriller opening, the girl is locked in an unknown place and the audience do not know how long she had been down there. Therefore, this affects the girl's physiological state as she had no free will to look after herself, it is all in the hands of her kidnapper. Furthermore,  safety of the girl is challenged as the thriller opening shows the antagonist travelling towards where the girl is secretly locked up and so it is inferred that the person is going to hurt her, especially when the screen cuts to black as the door opens and there is a loud, non-diegetic scream at the end.

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

Lighting technique

The lighting in any media video is very important as it creates a certain atmosphere that immediately impacts the audience. Lighting is effective in creating a mood, tone and foreshadowing what is about to come. For example, if a person is in a dark room with barely any light, we automatically think something scary, dark or grim is going to happen.

With my thriller opening, my partner and I decided in our meetings that we wanted to use minimal light as possible in the scenes when the protagonist is tied up. This is so we do not give away too much of her surroundings and therefore do not spoil the plot for what would be the rest of the movie. We used mostly natural light so that the scene looked more realistic and therefore could be relatable to the audience as they probably could envision themselves in the same situation.  The only non natural light that we used was a torch light in order to illuminate the face of the protagonist and show her expressions.




This dim lighting in this is similar to the one in my thriller opening as the lighting is mostly natural and you can still see the facial expression of the character. This sort of lighting causes suspense as it is quite dark and looks quite eerie. Similar to this, our thriller opening creates a feeling nervousness and anxiousness as you don't know what could happen next/

Editing

Editing: Final Cut Pro

To edit our Thriller opening 'Infliction' we used the editing software Final Cut Pro. This editing software enabled us to piece together the entire Thriller opening smoothly, add music and also add special effects. 

As seen in the screen shot above, we used Final Cut Pro to add in a sound effect that would act as incidental music to heighten tension. The 'stab' of music comes in when the shadowy figure walks past , creating an eerie feeling for the audience, Final Cut Pro enabled us to add the sound effect smoothly and not make it sound or look to broken up in pace. Initially, we were going to add some transitions in between shots but later decided that it negatively impacted the pace of the Thriller opening and took away from the realistic nature we were aiming for

Using Final Cut Pro, we layered the clips so that the transition from shot to shot ran smoothly. The layering, as shown in the screenshot above, helped us to move the clips about if we changed our minds about their position. This made editing much easier and it was simple to navigate and layering made the structure of our Thriller opening very clear.

Furthermore, using Final Cut Pro we added a sound effect of a creaking door to add suspense to our thriller. This also allowed us to give an example non-diegetic sound and it also projects the convention of mystery as the audience do not know where the creaking came from as it was not shown on camera.

Rough cut survey and analysis

My Thriller opening rough cut survey

Garageband

In order to create effective music, I used garageband so I could present the tone and atmosphere I wanted in my Thriller. With Garageband I tried to create an eerie tone with the music by overlapping multiple sounds together. I believed this would be effective as it would seem out of place and make the audience feel uncomfortable. This would add to the anxious atmosphere I want my audience to feel. However, I found that Garage band did not create the effect I wanted after multiple tries and so therefore I decided to find music off of Youtube. The music I found was very effective and impactful and so I will not be using garageband.

Rough Cut feedback

I asked Alex, a class member, to watch the rough cut of my Thriller and give me feedback. I asked a class member to give me feedback rather than a random person because Alex is also making a thriller opening and so therefore knows the conventions needed in one. Alex know what to look for in a thriller opening and so I knew I could rely on him for valuable constructive criticism.

From Alex's feedback, I am confident that the narrative of my Thriller is quite clear. This is good as it is one of the most important things in my music video in terms of the audience understanding what it happening so as much tension as possible can be created. My class mate also mentioned that he liked the camera work we had used, especially the "zooming in and out". We used this shot to create the sense that someone was watching the girl and filming her with a camera. However, Alex said that more tension could be created by adding incidental music. This is when music is played to enhance as particular part of a scene of the atmosphere. Tension is one of the key things in my thriller opening to build suspense as it does not have any words in it. Therefore, to get an impactful incidental music, I am going to look on places like Youtube for anything that might create an eerie effect. Furthermore, I am going to use garageband to try to create some of my own music. By using garageband, I will be able to create certain tones through the music that I want to come across.

Evaluation of rough cut

Analysing the rough cut of the thriller opening allows me to see what changes need to be made and what I need to improve on. In order to get a an understanding of what i need to improve on, I will evaluate sound, lighting and editing.

Our aim in the thriller opening was to create as much suspense as possible to maintain a certain enigma. In our rough cut the shots were atmospheric and tense, however some weren't very clear. In our feedback we were told that some shots (e.g the feet) were a little unclear and didn't look like it was leading to the same place the protagonist was meant to be in. Therefore, taking the feedback on board, we decided to re-film those scenes by making sure we have the feet clearly in the same setting as the protagonist. By doing this we keep the suspense going and do not create confusion for the audience. Furthermore, the shots of the feet were a bit too long. I think that varying between long short shots of the antagonist feet walking towards the destination will make it appear that the person is speeding up and so will make the viewer feel more anxious. Also, cutting between the protagonist and antagonist adds to this feeling and builds up the excitement

There was an absence of non-diegetic sound in the rough cut my media partner and I both agreed that sound will be best as it adds to the tension of the scene. Without music or sounds to add, the scene becomes a little bit mundane and harder for audience to stay focused on. As we have a younger target audience, we know that they will be seeking excitement and suspense in movies. Therefore, we have decided to add some sounds such as the creaking of a door shutting, whispering,screaming and heavy breathing. By doing this we draw in the attention of the viewer, however we don't want to use too many sounds and noises as that will make it sound and look overproduced.

Our thriller opening rough cut didn't really show a clear view on the antagonist background or where they have come from. The feedback from the rough cut suggested that we have some sort of back story in the beginning in order to give the audience a clearer understanding. We could do this by putting the antagonist in a normal environment leading up to the opening of the cupboard door to show that they have a normal life and therefore conveying that this person is normal. By doing this, we give the audience a feeling of suspicion and it also makes them feel anxious about the people in their everyday lives.

The lighting in our rough opening contrast greatly as it goes from being in a dark cupboard to a bright staircase. I think that the lighting should not all be the same but should harmonize together so they don't look so random and out of sequence. To do this I will make the feet shots a little darker in lighting so that they look a bit more in sync. Having said this, I don't want all the lighting to be the same as it will look quite monotonous.

To conclude, our rough shows the outline of the thriller opening but could be in much more detail. To do this we will edit the scenes so that they are more attention grabbing. Also, we will add non-diegetic sound to entice the audience. These things will make the thriller opening look more professional and therefore have a long lasting effect on the viewer.

Rough Cut

Here is a rough cut of my thriller opening

Thriller opening filming location

THRILLER OPENING FILMING LOCATION

My media partner and I have decided to film at her house as there is a small cupboard that predominantly fits the location we wanted. This is because the room is quite small which will make the character look fragile and trapped. Also it looks quite dark and dingy and this is good as we wanted the character to be in a unusual looking, mysterious place. We will use lighting in order to see the character but the lighting will be minimal in order to increase tension and create an enigma. Non-diegetic sound will also be present to help with this.

We will also be filming in a park because it is an open space where normal everyday people go. We decided to film in this location as it is not too out of the ordinary and therefore it will seem realistic that our protagonist should be in such a location as we are presenting her as a ordinary person. This is so we can make the atmosphere as realistic as possible for the audience so they could easily envision themselves in the same situation.

(Apologies for the video being sideways)

Marketing

How would you market the thriller?

If i was to market my thriller opening there is a range of different techniques I would use to ensure that it has the best distribution and therefore a wider audience. The main marketing technique I will use will be social media as this allows the thriller opening to be forwarded and shared on sites like Instagram and Facebook. This method is quick, low budgeted and easy to get a film known to people around the world. This is viral marketing. Social media also fits in with my target audience as that age group will be more prone to use it more. As well as social media, I will also put posters up around the places where my target audiences are likely to be, e.g a shopping center. This is so people that don't go on social media as much will still know about the film and also so that the film can also be considered by people that are not in our target audience. Little adverts on social media sites, such as YouTube, will be a good and effective way to market a film as the advert will tend to be repeated on different videos and therefore it will stay in people's minds. Digital technology seems to be the most effective and reliable way of marketing a media project as technology seems to be vastly taking over things like magazines and newspapers.

Stranger Things used similar marketing to this. Since it is an online show, they made sure to used a lot of online marketing so that they could reach their audience. Some of these things were...

Having the music streaming Spotify match their users with the Stranger Things character they have the most psychological affinity with.



Having one of the character favorite's from the show host a Netflix binge show with PlayStation offering attendance to it as a prize

Typography

(Typography example)

Typography is the style and font of a printed matter. In the context of media, typography is used for titles and credits of a film or television program. This useful as it allows the audience to get an idea of the type of film they will be watching and it will automatically make a certain feeling arise from the very beginning.


An example of Typography in the movie Seven. This type of typography creates a chilling feeling among the audience. The dark background contrast with the white font colour and therefore makes the typography really stand out. Furthermore, the shadow effect of the font creates a uneasy feeling among the audience and almost makes it feel like a shadow is lingering behind them





Another example of Typography is in the movie 'Zombieland' where rules on how to survive a zombie attack pops up throughout the movie. This typography is effective as it makes the movie seem like a game and therefore creates a lighthearted feeling in contrast to what is actually happening. The fact that the writing is in 3D makes it stand out as something important for the viewer as well as the people in the movie. The bold writing makes the rule appear as something that is or should be enforced.


Typography for my thriller opening

The typography for my Thriller opening will give the audience an understanding of what they will b watching and also give them a clear idea of what kind of movie it will be. My typography will be a font similar to 'This' and may cause the audience to feel anxious and full of suspense as to what they're going to see. The handwriting style may make the audience feel even more uneasy as it suggest that the antagonist in the thriller opening is someone that anyone could know in everyday life. To help me decide on the typography for my Thriller opening, i will use Dafont.com which has a range of different fonts and styles of writing. 

Meeting minutes

Meeting minutes

We decided that some our shot are a bit too long and we need to shorten them in order to vary the pace within our opening. Having said this, we don't want every shot to be short as we don't the thriller opening to seem rushed.

Furthermore, we decided that we should base the meetings around the shooting so we can evaluate each session and decide what could be improved or if we need to add anything. By doing this, we improve as we go along and we not have to change a hug amount of things like we would have had to do if we just evaluated right at the end

Meeting one discussion