Saturday, 8 May 2010

Before filming..



Setting up the scene and writing text on the wall - 'your next' in red nail polish.

Thursday, 6 May 2010

Evaluation Q4

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

As a group, we decided the target audience would be ‘15’ and over since most psychological thrillers are rated a 15. For all social groups and ethnicities. Those who are part of the Islamic religion and wear the hijab may feel they need to watch the thriller to see if they are represented positively or negatively.

The representation of the Muslim Women social group was positively represented; this was because it challenged the stereotype of women staying at home and being a ‘house-wife’ whilst the man earns the money. It also represents gender and woman in general by showing that women can also be successful and independent.

During our initial research, we found that most people liked the idea of the character being in a dream state and are brought between the two; a dream and reality. However, there was an issue as some felt there needed to be more scenes of the character being in a hospital to emphasise the idea that the character is in a mental hospital dreaming and caught up between what lives was before she went in there and how it’s affecting her now.

I think our thriller would appeal to people who like Shutter Island and Final Destination 2. Final Destination 2 has a scene of a female character that is in a mental hospital because she has experienced a weird phenomenon, because some of our ideas came from this scene such as the mise-en-scene and lighting.

Evaluation Q3

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?
I think our thriller could be a successful Hollywood movie as many of our ideas have been inspired by popular Hollywood movies which have been released in cinemas such as ‘Se7en’ and ‘Final Destination’.

Evaluation Q2

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

In our thriller we have different representations of different social groups. One social group are Muslim women. As part of our mise-en-scene, the main character wore a headscarf also known by the term ‘hijab’ to represent Muslim woman covering their hair as part of their religion.

Also, another social group represented is the social class and status; this was by creating a character that is high in status and known as middle/upper class. This character was a female entrepreneur, again as part of the mise-en-scene; the character was dressed in a formal outfit. This was a smart shirt and skirt with heels and a small briefcase. In addition, even if the audience are not aware of the character’s occupation, they still have an idea she has an occupation and is seen high in status.

However, gender is not represented stereotypically because the opening shows the main character having a conversation with another character who is also associated as being a business woman by the way she is dressed. Therefore, this shows the main character being dominant and not a stereotypical ‘passive woman’.
The main representation is mental patients; our thriller is mainly about an ordinary successful female who progresses into a mental patient.

Evaluation Q1

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

Our sequence is a psychological thriller. Usually, thrillers focus on plot over character, and emphasize the intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.

The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from one or more characters playing with one another's minds, either by playing illusionary games with the other or by slowly trying to destroy the other's mental state. This was effective in our thriller because the main character had been experiencing weird things such as the phone ringing at a specific time every day, letters saying ‘I know what you did’, writings on the mirror saying ‘you’re next’ and loud noises such as a glass breaking.

Sometimes the suspense comes from within one isolated character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is a struggle to understand something that has happened to them. These struggles are made more dramatic with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of physical appearance or events that occur during the thriller.

'' • Psychological – Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature.
• Thriller – A genre of fiction that attempts to "thrill" its audience by placing characters at great risk. This constant unease throughout the story makes the narrative suspenseful to the reader by creating a tense atmosphere.
• Psychological + Thriller – By combining these two terms, the definition changes to a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. ''

There are specific uses of sound and editing which follows the code and conventions of a psychological thriller. The sound we used was a mysterious noise which was continuous and had an almost creepy feel to it.

Also, the editing followed the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller. The titles were created in a way to emphasize the creepiness and give the audience a feeling they want to know what the film is about.

Evaluation Question Two