Evaluation by Alex Christian

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

Ways in which our thriller incorporates generic conventions are chiefly through the use of cinematography. To start with, the protagonist and antagonist of all films needs to be identified to the audience in order for them to understand the characteristic qualities as well as being able to form their own opinion of them. As we only had a two minute time frame, one of the most important tasks was to establish the roles of the main characters. To accomplish the target of establishing the protagonist, Sergeant Smith is viewed through an extreme close up, a long shot showing the majority of his body along with an over the shoulder shot capturing his hand grasping the information being delivered. These shots instantly reveal that he has the stereotypical male role of being the provider which the audience feel safe with as his dialogue is concise and he carries a respectable posture. The extreme close up of his eyes set a serious atmosphere whilst the long shot displays his importance in the narrative.



The similar shots used to film the antagonist, Ben Bullhorn, signifies alike meaning as he too is viewed through long shots, close ups and extreme close ups. The full body shots show Bullhorn dragging a heavy bag toward a car, which can be interpreted as disobedience of the male stereotype for his posture, hunched over, can be seen as him struggling. The close ups on the other hand, show evil and cold-hearted expressions which leave the audience feeling uneasy whenever they see him. Nevertheless, the similar use of shots convey the main characters by giving the sense that they are competing with each other, challenging one another for respect.


The use of conventions indicates a sub-genre through the use of mise on scene. For example, the choice of location being a garage with the view of cars where the antagonist conceals the body, suggest the film’s climax may feature a car chase between the police and fierce killer. This points in the direction of an action thriller film. But the use of props such as the arrangement of lilies placed on the victim’s body implies a hybrid genre of a psychological action thriller. As a group, our intention was to make the audience fear and feel disturbed by the antagonist. With our first decision to view him placing an arrangement of roses on the victim, we felt the symbolism would be misinterpreted by the connotation of him having a passionate emotion towards his victims. For this reason, we decided lilies were more appropriate as they are common flowers at funerals representing innocence, purity, and resurrection. They're often associated with the Virgin Mary and resurrection when placed on woman’s grave. This affects the audience as the vindictive behaviour of the killer shocks them into feeling uncomfortable because of his psychotic characteristics.

Other convention such as suspense was created by the use of score music. For example, the first time we are introduced to antagonist, Ben Bullhorn, the score music changes from high pitched mysterious sounding score to a heavy base and fast tempo track which sounds like a heartbeat. As the music climbs in volume, the tension builds and the audience are filled with panic putting them on the edge of their seat not knowing what he might happen next. As the diegetic use of dialogue makes a narrative outline more understanding, we made sure the language we chose belonged to the correct lexical field of crime. For example key words are used such as; ‘murdered, stabbed, victim, potential suspects and missing.’ This language makes the scene more realistic whilst deeply engaging the viewer.

2) How does your media product present particular social groups and how does it attract your audience?

Our media production represents particular social groups such as gender and race which we presented through our selection of cast. To begin with, the sequence opens with an establishing shot of a Metropolitan Police station. This unconsciously leads the audience to expect to see a male dominated scene due to the masculine occupation in the law enforcing field.

Their belief is supported as they are introduced to three police officers, two of which are male and one female. As the dialogue being delivered is by a male who is also the only character standing, the implication made is that males are dominant figures as he is providing the audience with the information needed to understand the narrative. The stereotypical view towards the male gender can also be seen as the ‘provider’ is also the only character to be viewed through a long shot in this scene. With this shot, the audience are aware of who holds the authority and are effected by feeling they can rely on this character which create enigmas as to whether he could be the hero of the narrative. Yet, this stereotypical outlook on gender can be interpreted in different ways due to the cinematic methods used. For example, the second shot of the sequence is a medium over the shoulder shot that shows both male and female trainee officers at the same level. This insinuates that the genders are able to be equal in this field of work especially as they are both viewed through close ups.


However, analysis of the juxtaposition of shots gives a different impression. As the sergeant announces the first victim who is female, the frame cuts to the close up of the female officer. I believe this is a strong connotation and feel the effect being imposed is a threatening atmosphere that makes the situation intimidating for her. This follows the female stereotype of not being capable for this profession without the male qualities. Further connotations of males indicate the stereotypical heroic view. As the sergeant announces the suspects, the frame cuts to a close up of the male officer which hints that he will be the rescuer of the narrative. The props used in this thriller opening also follow stereotypical characteristics as all the victims are females whilst the potential known suspects are male. This can be perceived that males have criminalist characteristics whilst females always appear to be the damsel in distress.


This led us to the decision of casting a male actor for the role of killer, Ben Bullhorn and another female actor for the recent victim, Rachel Brooke. By following these generalisations, the audience are able to relate to them as stereotypes are created within their own society, therefore we have visualised most people’s judgement in terms of gender. However, our thriller has challenged the common racial view point toward ethnic minorities. This can be seen as the antagonist is the same race as the police officers portraying the fact that there is good and bad in individuals not in particular races.

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

I think our thriller The Missing Suspects could be produced by a major Hollywood studio as the visual style reminds of a successful action thriller called Déjà Vu that features Denzel Washington as the protagonist. The high key lighting used at heroic moments conflicting with the under-toned mysterious use of colour at points of mystery, creates enigmas and suspense which keeps the audience fascinated throughout the film.


The choice us of producing a multi-strand narrative also shows that we are capable of illustrating different perspectives which demonstrates our mature style of production. I also think that by this institution distributing our product we will have the opportunity to distribute merchandise products. For example, a thriller such as The Godfather has the recognisable titles of ventriloquist strings representing the Godfathers control. Or, physiological thriller Fight Club’s poster of antagonist Brad Pitt with a conceited smile holding a bar of soap with blood smeared across the side of his face. These have a lasting impact on the audience as the posters are either have a symbolic meaning like The Godfather or, have a humorous perspective.


Using these as templates our thriller, The Missing Suspects, could distribute merchandise which could lead to a growth in profit. For example, t-shirts with antagonist Ben Bullhorn’s evil grinning expression, an arrangement of lilies in a vase of blood or a tall figure placing an arrangement of lilies on a grave. Here are two t-shirts I created as an example of what products we could produce from The Missing Suspects thriller. They both give the effect of a wickedness that the antagonist Ben Bullhorn presents as well as being recognisable; reminding the audience of his disturbing behaviour and the anxiety they felt whilst watching him.


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

According to the thriller questionnaires our group distributed, we received a lot of positive feedback from the contributors aged mostly between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. This therefore leads me to believe that The Missing Suspects could be enjoyed greatly by a target audience of fifteen to twenty-five year olds, especially females. My reason for this is that the common factor of all the victims being female could cause the audience to feel sympathetic, also, attracted to the thriller when they learn it’s a multi-strand narrative involving the law giving the gender they represent hope for saviour. However, I do think this thriller could attract people of an elder generation due to the use of police enforcing the law showing the effort put into making their environment a safer place. Following the rules made by the British Board of Film Classification and with this wide age range, our thriller has to be certified a fifteen. The guidelines appropriate for this certificate relating to thriller conventions are; strong threats and menace are permitted but the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable whilst violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. This means that if we were to continue producing a complete film of The Missing Suspects, some of the horrific themes would have to be connoted leaving the happening to the audience’s imagination.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

Firstly, to address our audience we needed to know what in particular attracted them to the thriller genre. This led us to hand out questionnaires investigating their most favoured conventions, narrative themes and visual style. As we received positive feedback from the questionnaire which was completed mostly by young females, we decided to use this information to our benefit through the stereotypes representation of females. This casting decision could mean that the use of the victims being female will cause them to feel sympathetic toward the helplessly presented characters. This is supported by the cinematic technique used which puts the audience in the position of victim, Rachel Brooke, as the killer mulls over his kill in the boot of a car. This point of view shot weakens the audience and impacts them by experiencing the superiority the antagonist has leaning into the frame as if he is dominating the positioning of the camera himself. This creates suspense as the audience now feel they are in danger but engages them even further as they want to continue to watch the film to see if a hero can save us from this villain.

Other ways in which we attracted the audience is through the enigmas created. For example, as an establishing shot of the Metropolitan Police station is seen, the audience are instantly aware that a crime is under investigation at the beginning of the sequence however the question raised is; what crime has been committed? Other enigmas throughout the opening sequence produced are: Who are the missing suspects? Why has Rachel Brooke been kidnapped? What is Ben Bullhorn planning to do with Rachel’s body? These questions need to be answered which is what keeps the audience engaged; whilst the suspense created wont let them escape their curiosity. The suspense is constructed with the help of the fast high pitched score music and short close camera shots. We used these conventions often as facial close ups set the atmosphere with different expressions framed. Although our questionnaire revealed the majority of contributors preferred single-strand narratives, we were confident that the use of the police would attract the audience as the law enforcing element assures them of a solution.



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

With the introduction of editing technologies such as Final Cut Pro, we were able to improve the frame’s mise en scene by using the effects the software had offered to portray conventions of a thriller. For example, the immediate establishing shot of the Metropolitan Police sign has been edited with a blue filter which instantly informs the audience of the thriller genre with its sinister effect.

This software has also allowed us to differentiate the themes of good and evil with further use of colour within the scenes of the police and the cold-hearted killer. When filming the police scene we noticed the high key lighting emitted a saintly effect. Therefore to show the contrast between characters, we came to the decision of making the killer’s scene low key in lighting. To do this, I as the editor, saturated the colour making the setting appear grimy and form shadows. The process of colour saturating was time consuming, although, I found it rewarding as the effect produces more meaning and symbolism.

After analysing many successful thrillers, it became clear that score music is a necessity in the aim of creating suspense. To achieve suspense, we selected score music with a high pitch, fast tempo and a heavy base from software called VideoCoPilot. By adjusting the length, volume and transitions between them on FinalCutPro, we aimed to narrate the storyline with a clear understanding. An example of this is when the volume had to be toned down as it is heard in the distance as the Sergeant delivers important information to the audience. If the volume was too high, the important information wouldn't have been heard, confusing the audience later in the film.

Other skills I’ve learnt through the use of Final Cut Pro are the effects that give our film a higher standard and the visual style of a professional film industry. For instance, the simple use of transitions between shots such as cross fading when showing the titles of the production can change the appearance dramatically.

Overall, I’ve learnt that the effects you use are what categorize a film in a genre. Also, I’ve learnt that attention to detail needs to be shown during the editing process as the slightest break in continuity can sabotage the understanding of the narrative.

Despite the positive outcome of the editing software, our group did experience challenges during the filming process which came as disadvantages. To begin with, our group had recorded a preliminary task which we then discovered had broken the 180degree rule. To resolve this dilemma we researched the cinematic technique by visiting YouTube.com and watching a visual guide explaining the correct methods. This helped us a lot as we gained full understanding of our misuse of the camera and put our new knowledge into practice by re-filming a preliminary task. This was more successful as we used a range of shots including shot reverse shot, close ups and medium shots as well as correct use of the 180 degree rule.

The cameras, PD170’s were reliable pieces of equipment although the use of them relied on the group members handing in call sheets and checking on their availability. I think this responsibility highlighted the dependable group members. We also endured many mistakes during our first attempt at filming an opening thriller sequence, The Axeman. Looking back in hindsight, compared to The Missing Suspects sequence our planning for this sequence wasn’t thoroughly thought through as we didn’t abide by a shot list and didn’t think about the appearance of props. The mise en scene did not convey the conventions of a thriller as the victim was seen wearing shiny jewellery, tied up by rope which the audience can clearly see her escaping herself from and the fake blood was undoubtedly red acrylic paint. There was no use of effects to give the feeling of an evil and fearful atmosphere. Consequently, from these errors, we learnt that when constructing a product it is essential that editing technologies are used to portray particular conventions of a genre.

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

I feel I have learnt the importance of pre-production in filming as the mistakes we made caused us to review our decisions and improve creating a successfully represented thriller opening. The part that I enjoyed the most was the textual analysis and cinematic techniques in the thriller genre which made me realise the impact that miniscule details have on the audience. This for me broadened my horizons as the editor in creating a high standard production that followed as well as challenging thriller conventions. Since our first attempt of the preliminary task, the planning process became easier with the guide of a storyboard, a shot list as well as knowing the locations, type of score music and cast. When filming without this pre-planned construction, we found that we lost our agenda and spent more time discussing and altering decisions which led to the complication of the narrative storyline. The shot list in particular assisted our production as we knew exactly what shots were needed to be effective and relevant in our thriller. This also prevented our filming sessions from being prolonged as well as improving our shot types as there was no taking of unnecessary shots. This can be seen in the way the shots have been edited; short and concise, reflecting the conventions of a thriller. After all the practice with camera equipment and editing software, I now feel confident that we have produced an opening to a thriller that represents particular social groups as well as create suspense leaving a lasting impact on the audience.

Evaluation by Shiraz Zafar

Evaluation

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

Our thriller is called ‘The Missing Suspect’. The thriller we have created incorporates generic conventions of suspense and unexpected endings by using the techniques of sound and editing. The use of conventions indicates our thriller to fit into the sub-genre of Crime Thriller. This is due to the narrative being of a police investigation. Altogether 43 shots were used in our 2 minute opening sequence of a thriller. These shots consisted of close ups, extreme close ups or medium shots. From researching into thrillers we agreed that these types of shots were used to build suspense, create enigmas and show ones facial expressions. These shots help the audience understand and engage with the plot.
Individually, for our coursework a thriller analysis had to be carried out on a thriller movie of our choice, from that research I learnt that having a range of close ups in a thriller really helps the narrative flow and helps builds enigmas and suspense. These factors were incorporated into the 2 minute sequence, which aided in creating the genre.
Another technique which we used was sound. Sound played a major part in our product as the type of music we selected in the background flowed as the shots progressed. To create suspense in our thriller production, we added score music from a software called Video Co Pilot. This helps change the atmosphere of the shots taken. We first had a few practise tries with non-diegetic sounds by using Final Cut Pro by adjusting lengths, volumes and transitions between them. The score music chosen was used as it is popular with many other thriller films.
From our preliminary task we understood that the music we add to a scene had to connect with what the scene was showing. This enabled the scene flow and the audience would understand what was happening. For example in our preliminary task we had first used music which was irrelevant, it did not match what was on the screen. This resulted in the loss of atmosphere. Therefore it did not make sense to our audience. We then did some research which gave us the understanding of the importance of sound. The score music we used in our 2 minute sequence was high pitched, fast paced which built tension engaging the audience to watch more. These tracks we included were called Survival, Mystery, Greeble and Airplane Cabin. We used these sound in the right places to create the narrative and also create enigmas and build suspense. For example we used the Mystery sound at the beginning of the sequence whilst the sergeant was speaking to other police officers. Here we lowered the volume as if it was higher the audience wouldn’t be able to hear what was going on, therefore confusing the audience due to not hearing the important information the officer was delivering. Also in another scene we used the sound of Greeble which is a heavy base sound with a racing tempo whilst the mysterious character was dragging the corpse across the garage floor. We used this sound to build the suspense and to make it clear to the audience who the antagonist is. Again this would help the audience understand clearly who the antagonist was and also the protagonist.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups represented in our product in terms of gender are that of the male being the villain. In most thrillers a stereotypical male character is often the villain and causing destruction, several murders, kidnapping or stealing something that doesn’t belong to them. For example, in the movie The Dark Knight, the villain is the male called the Joker.
In our product, the villain is a white male and is a serial killer. He is a middle aged and of the lower class working group. He is represented as being a mentally disturbed person carrying out several murders and using his garage as a hide out, where he brings his victims. His gender is somewhat represented in a stereotypical way as he is dressed in dirty overalls, wearing white oily gloves and working alone in a small garage. This makes the killer look like a crazy, lonely man. He is portrayed in a way where he could be misrepresented by different audiences. As he fits the stereotype of how mechanics look and dress. He could be represented as being single, depressed and disturbed. This is how we wanted the audience to understand his character to be portrayed.




What kind of media institution might distribute your media production and why?

I believe that our product could be produced into an internet only release. This is because our group who have made this product are from ages 17 to 18 years of age. If planned out fully and taken into consideration the amount of equipment we do have, we could make a successful hit on the net. We have the similar likes and dislike to our age group so we no what type of people would like to watch certain things. These days the way our young audience watches new movies are from the net. We can relate to what the young audience wants and also we can interact with them, therefore they would trust what we give them. We could make 5mins sketches every weak and upload them, for example starting of on Face book and even You Tube. We could even make our own homepage which anyone can access for free.
Our age group used the net a lot of the time. They are experts on how to access certain web pages, watch clips and films and upload items of their choice. As millions of young teens access the internet daily, I believe that our product could be a hit if we used the net to release your first showing. We even may be lucky enough for a major Hollywood studio to stumble across our homepage and like what they see and progress from there.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience for our media product would be anyone ages 18 to 25. Even ages higher could similarly be interested in our product. From our results from our questionnaire we came to the conclusion that both genders are interested in thriller genres. Our target audience could vary as the results from our questionnaire show a range of people interested in thrillers. The sequence is mainly aimed at anyone who enjoys a good thriller. Its exciting, builds tension and creates enigmas while watching. It engages the audience and it draws a range of people in wanting to watch more due to the unpredictable narrative. The music aids in creating mood, atmosphere and narrative.

How did you attract/address you audience?

The way we attracted our audience was how we put together the narrative. We made sure that all ages would enjoy the thriller opening. We made it as easy from ages 15 plus to understand fully what the thriller is about. There isn’t any point in our 2 minute sequence where it would appeal to or particularly terrify any age or gender. I think what attracted the audience the most was the props, setting and the sound. These techniques used where perfect for our sequence as it all fitted together like a puzzle.
The props we used such as the bag where the body was in. At first this engaged the audience and built suspense as they wondered what was the killer dragging in the bag. The car also played a big part in the sequence as this prop was where the body was kept and the getaway car. This excited the viewers as maybe the whole film could have been a police chase or a disaster for the killer as he might of drove off a cliff. This was the enigma our group was hoping for the audience to feel. We constantly tried out best to keep the viewers engaged all the time.

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

A lot was learnt when using the technology supplied to us. We used technologies such was the camera equipment and the software on the Apple Computers. First, the camera equipment, we used equipment camera, tripod, boom stick, shotgun and headphones. We were ok with how to use the camera equipment. I found that it was easy to set up and start up this equipment; however we were a bit rusty at first.
We had an issue when we were recording the scene of the police officers as once they left, we later realised we needed them for another shot. So we searched for the same officers who were in a meeting and finally got them to come back, they were more than happy to help. After filming a few times we went straight onto Final Cut Pro which was the editing suite. This was an editing software so that everything we filmed would go straight onto the timeline and start editing. For example, the lengths of shots, sounds, lengths of sound, transitions and special effects.
From this software I learnt a lot of techniques on how the whole process of editing works, how important editing is in general and the techniques of the software. It was fun after you get the hang of it, such as ‘Log and Capture’, increasing and decreasing lengths of sound and shots and adding in other features.

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

Looking back on our Preliminary Task I feel that I have learnt a lot in general about the filming and editing process as a whole. Form this experience, I have grasped how to set up the camera equipment and use it in the correct way to make the shots as much effective as possible. I have learnt how to use the different software’s of editing such as Final Cut Pro and Video Co Pilot. I have taken on the skill and techniques of different types of editing to make the scenes and shots flow to make a good narrative.
The planning stage was as a group we sat down and discussed what our end product should be. We had many ideas but were a bit much to put on camera and edit. We needed something simple, yet effective. I believe that The Missing Suspect was simple, yet effective to our target audience. As a group we made sure that our thriller stuck to its genre.
The storyboard was our task that we did to fully scope how our end product would be. We did a group brainstorm giving us ideas and suggestions to how the end product should be like and also gave questionnaires out so we could understand what the audience’s demands and suggestions were. As a group we all co operated together and that’s what made our final product at its best. After much planning and researching I believe we have a successful 2 minute sequence. I feel after this experience I am much more confident with the camera equipment and more confident with the editing suite. I believe now our task has been successful and looking back at our blog at our task and what we inputted, I am confident that our product is successful.

Audince testing - Shiraz Zafar

Audience review

When making any production, we need to take into consideration the interests of the viewers. The target audience are the people who the production will be delivered to. To find out the vital information needed to create a production that our target audience would like, we decided to hand out a questionnaire to a random selection of people. We hoped that this method of market research would aid in creating a good thriller sequence. From the results of the questionnaire we are able to get an idea of who are target audience are, and what interests them to watching a good thriller movie. The results we received were put into Pie charts as percentages.

The first question we chose to ask was ‘What age group do you fit in to?’ This question was important to find out as we need to no what ages expect certain elements of conventions in a thriller. From the results, we found out that 53%, which slightly over half of the people were asked were in the ages from 15 – 18 years of age. This helped us to making our production, as we now know that the majority of our target audience are in between the ages of 15 and 18, but also overall would appeal to ages up to 35 years old. So if we were to distribute this thriller, we would advertise it near the places teenagers hang out. For example, colleges and local cinemas.

The next question was ‘What gender are you?’ This is another important question as this could help us decide on who will be protagonist and antagonist would be for our thriller. For example, If there are a lot of teenage females watching thrillers, then we know in our production, would should have a female to be the protagonist and this could attract more females to watch the sequence. The female role of the protagonist represents power, authority and confidence; this would draw in the female audience. In our result we found out that females like to watch thrillers slightly more than the males. 54% of females answered this questionnaire and 46% of males answered it. There is not that much of a gap between genders. Both genders are interested in thriller movies. So during the production we would have a plot that satisfies both genders.

The third question was ‘what is you ethnic background?’ This is another important question to ask the audience. This is because during our production we need to be careful not to offend any types of ethnicity. This is a very important factor to take into consideration, as this would affect a lot of people. The whole aim of making the production is to satisfy the viewer’s needs. These results varied in different ranges. Mostly every type of ethnic background would enjoy watching a thriller. The results were that 13% were white British, 13% were white European, 13% were Asian Pakistani, Asian Indian were 7%, black British were 7%, black Caribbean were 21%, black African were 13% and other ethnicities were of 13%. This shows us a wide range for out target audience. The reason we chose several ethnicities were to make all types of people feel needed. This is to show them their views count to and would contribute to making our thriller sequence.

The forth question was ‘how often do you watch thriller movies?’ This is a question that would ultimately tell us if thrillers are a popular genre. We found out that 33% of the people said that they watch thrillers a lot, 41% of the people watch it frequently, and the other 26% of the people watch it rarely. With the results we found out that thrillers are a popular genre and are watched a lot of the time.

The fifth question was ‘in the thrillers you have recently seen, which of them features have more than one convention?’ The Dark Night was the chosen the most out of a range of different films. The audience felt that this thriller had more than one convention, which I also feel is true. The Dark Knight was at 22% out of a range of 10 thriller movies. The other top 5 which were chosen were Batman Begins at 9%, The Departed at 9%, Déjà vu at 8%, The Prestige at 9% and The Bourne Ultimatum at 17%. All these thrillers were scene to have more than one convention.

The sixth question was ‘what convention do you enjoy seeing when watching a thriller movie? The two most popular conventions which were chosen were Suspense and Action conventions. These were at 29% and 27%. We now know that in the making of our thriller we should use the conventions of suspense and action the most as this is what our target audience like to watch.

The seventh question was ‘which of these thrillers have you seen recently? The most popular film out of a range of 10 was the thriller The Dark Knight which was at 21%. This was highly enjoyable to our audience; along with this film was The Bourne Ultimatum which was at 15%. When making our thriller we would use different elements of conventions from these thrillers and incorporate them in our 2 minute sequence. Hopefully this would keep the audience on their edges of their seats.

The eighth question is ‘do you prefer single strand narratives or multi-strand narratives?’ This question is most relevant to find out if our audience like to watch just one story happening in a thriller, or a number of different stories happening in a thriller. This question, again, will help us decide which of the strand narratives to use in our 2 minute thriller sequence. The results were that 53% of our audience preferred to watch single strand narrative and 47% of our audience would prefer multi strand narratives. We now need to figure out a time of narrative to use in our sequence that would satisfy all of our audiences.

The ninth question is ‘what do you think of the Missing Suspect synopsis?’ This question being asked is to find out whether our audience like of dislike our thriller opening. Overall, our audience were really impressed with our synopsis and were eager to watch the 2 minute sequence. The results were that 27% said the synopsis was very good, 37% said it was good, 20% said it was fair and liked it, 7% said bad and dislike the synopsis and 7% said it was very bad. With this feedback we were quite pleased that most of the audience liked our synopsis, which meant the actual sequence would be quite popular.

The tenth question is ‘what do you think of the Missing Suspect script?’ The script is basically just showing people, who have what role and the dialogue. This question is similar to the ninth question. The results were that 13% thought our script was very good, 27% thought it was good, 33% said it was fair, 20% said it was bad and 7% said it was very bad. From these results, we agreed that maybe the audience were not to found of our script, or maybe the script itself was not good enough. If this is the case, in the future, we would make sure our script satisfies everyone.

The eleventh question is ‘do you think this synopsis links to the Thriller Genre?’ This question is asked to find out whether our synopsis fits into the thriller genre. We are happy to say that our synopsis does fit into this genre. Our audience also agreed this as the results stated that 80% said it did fit into the thriller genre, but 20% did not agree with this. Overall, the majority of our audience believed that it did fit into this genre. This tells us that the codes and conventions used in this sequence did fit the thriller genre, so would end in a successful product.

The final question, which is the twelfth question, says ‘what age certificate do you think The Missing Suspect synopsis and script fit into?’ The results were that 33% of the audience said it was a 18 certificate, 40% agreed it was a 15
Certificate and the other 27% believed it was a 12A certificate.

Evauluation: By Dominic Esty- Wilkinson

Dominic Esty-Wilkinson
As Media


The Missing Suspects

Media Evaluation

In my evaluation I am going to take you through the process in which I had constructed my media product all questions will be answered, also I will be analysing the ways my media product had met the codes and conventions of a thriller, also how my media product had improved from my preliminary task and the progression I have overcome as I challenged the codes and conventions and the genre thriller.

Figure 1: close up of title of the police station



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

The way my media product uses forms and conventions of a real media product is essential as I followed the ways in which a thriller should be put together, for example my media product reveals enigmas and has suspense within it clearly demonstrating towards the audience, that it meets the conventions of a thriller genre. Within a thriller movie we expect to see vulnerable protagonist and a powerful antagonist, in whom the antagonist is far more superior as they intend to kill, creating suspense for the audiences as they are a stereotype character and represents them as dominant. In my media product I have also used a antagonist as it creates suspense and gives audiences a clear view of the film as it flows a reveals enigmas in an unique way for example the voiceover that takes place as a man is dragging a large bag, audiences will be guessing for what might be in the bag, my media product challenged the forms of the genre thriller as it had intense score music that blends in with the film, making it flow and add effect within it. I wanted my media product to engage audiences to what they expect in a thriller so I challenged real products to compare with mine to make it eye catching and successful. In a way my media could be shown as an mysterious sub genre as it shows mysteries throughout, revealing enigmas, this challenges real media product because it also engages audiences which is the main achievement. However my media product as clear mise en scene and shows everything, which is, suppose to represent the scene including characters. We had shown a thriller genre because it would have been to complicated creating a action and adventure sequence, as they show a more creative sequence involving fight scenes, explosions and cars, these cross genre were too complicated to involve to we kept it a basic mysterious thriller.
Since my film had involved the police it made it hard to compare to another film, so I looked a TV Drama Criminal Minds, the reason being because they have the same plot in the police investigating murders this was essential because I had something very similar to compare my film to.

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

My media product represents particular social groups by making them middle and lower class, in which the police are investigating the murder inquires I have represented them as middle class workers. The antagonist fitted the stereotype of a (serial killer) as he had said: “jobs done” this gave the impression that he murders people regularly, however he also fitted the stereotype by being intimidating and frightening. Also the police were middle age adults and young adults, giving a clear representation that they are middle class workers. However the protagonist that was a black Caribbean and was shown murdered in a large bag, I had contrasted this to real films as black individuals always die first. Men are seen as dominant characters as I portrayed the male as being dominant as he was shown being far more superior as had been handling a dead body. I also challenged the way that women are portrayed as being less superior and being portrayed as victims.

Figure 2: shows male police officer paying attention towards sergeant.

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

The media institution which might distribute my product is film companies, the actual fact being that it is a film sequence so it what be essential for them to distribute my product because it is in the same category. Having my film being distributed by film companies e.g. (20th century fox) this is an advantage to promote my product to audiences as it wouldn’t be necessary for a music company to promote a film because they are different categories. Also a newspaper institution can also distribute my product for example the sun because mass media read prints, and it makes it a success to me and the audiences to see my media product being promoted and this can make my media product a successful tool in this competitive media world. This could indeed be something produced by a major Hollywood studio, because it is unique in a way by involving the law, which audiences relate as it is serious and makes it something that catches audiences attention, however it could also be a internet release after giving a specific date of release, could be also involve collectable products for example t. shirts, action figures and games. I would franchise my media product at mass media because I feel I had observed the conventions well to allow a lot audience to be engaged to the film. However I see a media institution like 20th century fox to distribute my merchandise because they are very successful in the film industry.

4. Who would be your audience for media product?

The audience for my media product will be teenagers aged 18- 25 the reason being is that from my audience review the majority of my audiences agreed on the same conventions and aspects, so they would be my particular focus as they expect the same results I should provide them with what they want, making my media product successful, for example most of them agreed on vulnerable protagonist so I made my product compare with that by having a murdered teenager and a intimidating antagonist. Usually when involving the police it is aimed at a high age certificate so I will know exactly who my audiences will be.





I had referred to the BBFC age classification decisions, the reason being because it sorts out the ages for each age category in what it involves, since I had rated my film at 18 because it involved police and murder, this was essential because it made me decide what audiences to target.

Figure 3: shows establishing shot of the police station


5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

I attract my audiences using effects I gathered in final cut pro, I used a tinted dark effect in a separate scene in which the antagonist was in and made the starting scene normal as it clearly displayed a contrast within the scenes which audiences have encountered. I engaged my audiences with my intense score music I inherited from soundtrack pro this was played in the antagonist scene and had made it create suspense, and represented the antagonist as an scary individual. The props I used were a boiler suit, latex gloves and a slimy location which was in an garage, the reason being is that it made the antagonist stand out within the location, I needed to get the props and location right because I wanted to really engage the audiences the best way I could and to make my thriller challenge the codes and conventions within one. The character that played the antagonist fits the stereotype as an antagonist because his character blended in with the thriller well because he had the right expressions, movement shape and size I had to look hard for an character to play that role because it need to meet the conventions of the genre thriller. Also at the end of my media product I added a special effect I gathered from videocopolit, I used this because my audiences like to see special effects as they are in to new technology I thought that this might like attractive to my audiences in engaging them with a good expression at the end. However I had also had asked police officers the star in my film, this was unique because I had thought out of the box and done something not many would of thought of and this attracts my audiences as it made it look very serious, as the police represent the law and made my film attractive to watch as we see police an important part of the world we live in this was vital for me to recoup them to star in my film. I think this was amazing because I had made my film different from the rest and put in attractive edits in my film. I related this to my questionnaire by targeting the correct audience profile, most of them being males, in the scene when the antagonist dragging the bag it shows men are dominant and men are more likely to view the film as they are in control, dominating vulnerable females, this a stereotype again portraying them as feminine and less superior. Having police and murdered victims being shown, this allows my film to easily be portrayed at an 18-age classification certificate. During this scene where we see a mysterious man dragging a large bag, as this progresses it allows audiences to guess as it is enigma that is on the verge of it being revealed. Involving enigmas creates suspense and it leads to a clue, I had to include this because it is a simple way of attracting audiences. However we knew our target audiences were aged at 18 and above so this aspect was very important. I used several close ups and extreme on the antagonist’s face to show the frightening appearance so audiences can see that he is a dominant figure. I involved establishing shots of the scene so audiences can see the surroundings that the characters a based in. Addressing the audiences wasn’t easy as it as I had to include enigmas in way that will effect them, as goes for suspense and the shots had to flow and make sense, this was hard a the beginning but then got the hand of wondering what audiences wanted to consume. From the antagonist’s perspective we see that he is calm and relax and does this regularly shown through his composer. The use of his criminal mind as it has become a case for the police.

Figure 4: establishing shot of man dragging large bag.


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

The technologies that I have learnt is how to use final cut pro and learnt many of the ways I can edit my products, I learnt how to extend, decrease time in shots, I had to make my film 2 minutes long and had to cut down the shots in which some took up to much time, I also had to work with my editor to darken some of the shots that needed to represent the scene in a different mode. I have learnt how to set up and tripod put, and to set up a film camera this was vital as we were left to film alone and needed to know what we was doing. I also learnt how to use the camera, how to zoom in and out, lower the tripod for different shots at different angles, also to record on a Dv tape, and so log and capture footage on the computer. I learnt how to name shots of my images that I captured, also learnt how to set up a boom pole and microphone for dialogue in my media product. I gained plenty of experience during my time of my film and editing process for my media product, filming had took up several weeks in which I thought that it would be done in less than that, knowing know filming is a long process I have learnt that it takes time to construct and put together. I have used different editing tools and software’s such as soundtrack pro when I had been going through the process of constructing my media product.












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

Looking back at my preliminary task, I have learnt a lot towards the progression of my media product the difference is that when I had first used the camera the shots I had taken wasn’t the best and didn’t look very good, my preliminary was basic as I used shot reverse shot within it, now I have learnt how the use different shots at different angles, my full 2 minute sequence media product progressed to a far higher level to its peek as it involved different shots and different effects the progression was a lot I had learnt far more things to include in my media product on my journey of constructing it. Looking back at my preliminary it is very basic and doesn’t have as much quality as my media product has, as my media had to be good i had spent much more time on it than my first task, but still shown good shots within them, I had learnt that it had to make sense for audiences to understand showing clear shots and had to make it flow in an essential way. I have mastered the shot reverse shot showing conversation between characters that clearly represent them, for example: this shows dominance in characters and, also I have learnt about the 180 degree rule where the camera must not cross the imaginary line, if this occurs continuity is automatically broken and reveals bad shots and puts together a bad film as a whole. I had gotten a better relationship with the editing suite in using final cut pro, and also with the camera and tripod. I learnt about close ups and dissolving in my media product, also I made my media flow and have clear understanding in the revealed enigmas and suspense. I have learnt how real media products create suspense by looking at successful films for example (seven), what was also vital was sound because a film with just shots and no sound didn’t really make it a thriller product. I learnt that shots had to flow in order to make a sequence look good, I learnt that in real life producers have to film for several years to make the film like good, as I took time for my preliminary task and final sequence. Having the camera equipment being so expensive this made our my group and me take extra care as we leant several new things as we didn’t know what to do or use.

I observed the conventions well because I went about it a in a way which my audiences expect and followed the features that the genre thriller will have in it to make it successful, I had used film techniques by involving an establishing shot, this shows the audiences the whereabouts of a scene in what is happening and what events are taking place, this involves the mise- en- scene being shown and the location. However we also used an over the shoulder shot, where audiences can see the conversation of two characters that are talking or can involve something different, this was followed by close ups and extreme close ups, we used this because it was it revealed characters reactions and props being shown for audiences to understand. I had made sure my film flowed because, I wanted audiences to know what was happening without confusion and made it a lot better to watch repeatedly, during the process of my film there were several mistakes but, used wrong music, shots were not making any sense and using wrong lighting. As we continued to work hard I started to feel a level of progression rising as we used the camera without any problems, locations were booked out so we avoided time loss and most importantly shots started to look better.
What I noticed between the preliminary is that the shots were improved the lighting had improved and special effects were added this was key as it showed signs of progression to a better standard, also we spent a lot more time on our 2 minute film and had improved gradually. We used shot reverse shot in the police station and in the garage clearly showing two characters. I had a glance of the bill which is shown on ITV in which they set out their police investigation offices show I had taken that setting and put it in mine; I didn’t really compare my film with others because there were not many I could think of show I referred to British TV dramas. The audience pleasure I am trying to provide is suspense, the reason being is that when I watch thriller films I like to be afraid I wanted to give the same feeling to my audiences making my film a complete success. My thriller matched the conventions because it involved the features that you would expect to see in a real thriller genre, I used vulnerable protagonist, suspense, revealed enigmas etc. My audience responded successfully because the results I had got back were successful because I met the majority of their requirements and this made my film a complete success, what audiences expect is essential because it shows you what to include. Final cut pro made life easy for me because it had several colours, effects, to make my film look realistic and good, this played a key feature in my construction of my media product, the cinematography was easily improves, the editing was easy and the sound wasn’t hard to input, this enabled me to construct good footage as a whole. At the start of the filming I was vulnerable, as I didn’t know what to do, I had a very low knowledge of the camera equipment, editing and sound, I played a small role in editing as my editor did most of the work, however I still wanted certain shots involved in the missing suspects.

In conclusion I have analysed the codes and conventions of my 2-minute sequence in the thriller genre, analysed how to attract audiences by using enigmas and involving suspense. Also I explained how I have progressed during the process of the sequence and shown what improved and what had been difficult. I also added graphics for my final shot which was the title of the film, this was important to me because early teenagers like graphics and 3d images so it was a good idea to involve blobs of blood stains with the text I created in final cut pro and got the graphics of VideoCopolit.

Figure 5: title of the film in graphic image form.

Storyboard: By Dominic Esty- Wilkinson

Genre Research - Shiraz Zafar

The genre of thriller is extremely broad which also has many sub genres within the genre. These sub genres include, for example, Physiological Thrillers, Action thrillers and even romantic comedy thrillers.
A thriller contains certain characteristic. The pace must be quick with lot of action, and there should be suspense where the plot twists. Thrillers should have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats , wondering if the protagonist wont get killed.
Thrillers are often set in mysterious locations, although this isn’t essential as certain sub genres, like Crime Thrillers do not have these characteristics. The main characters are usually male, who usually get dragged into the plot to save the day. These men are usually spies, armed forces or working for the government. Sometimes you could get a ordinary person to be the protagonist who gets drawn in to the plot, but they always are cut out for the job and ready for any danger coming their way. Woman are often the protagonists to, but are used to a limited extent, but its still more of a male dominated genre,
It has been suggested that thrillers mostly require the protagonist to solve a current problem to prevent it happening. Usually the antagonist are on a grand scale of skill as well which builds the plot with several enigmas and suspense.

2 minute sequence Storyboard