Evaluation

Conventions

Our film has a mystery thriller genre which holds many conventions which are still used in media products today. The conventions include use of shadow and light, sound to create dramatic effect and hidden element such as identity. These conventions were found in researching other films sharing the genre, particularly films which we intertextualized into our own production.

Our film was greatly influenced by these elements, as we decided to add quite a lot of shadow in our film to portray an unknown danger which occurs later in the film (the kidnapping). This had been taken from films such as ‘Psycho’ as this film uses a lot of shadow to express darker characters or something to be frightened of.

I also decided to look in detail at the non-diagetic and diagetic sound in other products to recreate the same atmosphere effectively in our film. Films such as ‘Minority Report’ and ‘Se7en’ appeared most significant to me, because I wanted to create the same mood as was set in these films. I chose slow paced non-diagetic music for the beginning of the film with an uneasy tone to set an atmosphere which would reflect mystery and a sense of suspense.

The music becomes faster paced and dramatic as the crash occurred to build the tension and manipulate the audiences’ feelings so that they became frightened and were attracted to the plot, such as the famous ‘Psycho’ music in the shower scene. Another sound characteristic in thriller films is diagetic human sounds such as a heartbeat or breathing to reflect a characters feelings and their fright which helps the audience to undergo these feelings themselves. We used this as the brother wakes up suggest recovery but also a feeling of anxiety as the kidnapping is revealed.

The finishing non-diagetic sound which is added in the shots of the kidnappers and at the very end of the scene holds a sense of childhood, in that the main tune of the music is quite similar to a children’s lullaby or nursery rhyme, which I thought would suit the film particularly well as it represents the small boy’s innocence and vulnerability. However, the music still maintains an underlying tone of terror which contrasts with the childlike tone to create a very chilling atmosphere which is exactly what we were trying to put across.

A convention of this genre which we adapted was a hidden narrative, as the storyline is quite clear. This is because we have shown the kidnappers’ struggle and taking of the boy through editing, revealing both points of view, from the car to the woods. We felt this was best to do so that the audience could get a better insight of the events taking place, and also to add a rise in action and tension which often occurs in thrillers. Another reason we did not follow this convention is because it allowed us to attract the audience and maintain their interest throughout.

Representation

When looking at representation in our film, I can understand that it is quite varied. At the beginning of our pre-production work, we planned to use a father figure searching for his young son which would have been extremely positive as a woman usually carries a nurturing role typically. We then progressed our ideas on, by talking to each other about what we feel would be best and we also created separate storyboards which we then collaborated so all our input was equal.

However, we finalised on an idea which meant that the brother was taking action by trying to rescue the young boy. This is slightly negative in representational terms as although the brother is caring for the boy, traditionally a woman’s role, he is being very active which is stereotypical of a male figure therefore expressing negative gender representation. On the other hand, the film overall is mostly from the older brother’s point of view, and through editing and camera work we have shown the brother’s emotions (such as fright and terror) which is positive representation as old-fashioned stereotypes see females as emotional, not males. For example, at the end of the scene, there is a mid-shot of the brother to show a worried expression which suggests to the audience that he is disturbed. Furthermore, extreme close up shots of his eye imply that he is again quite scared, which is also positive. This use of representation is emphasised through sound as the diagetic sound puts across his frightened state while the non-diagetic sound adds a feeling of sadness.

Focusing on mise en scene, I feel that we have represented the women and men quite equally and the only costume which is symbolic of power is the kidnappers, in which case it was essential so that we presented them as characters which are a threat.

Also, when analysing the representation in our film of different ages, I would say that it is not highly positive. The main cast are aged between 8-30, whereas the mother figure is displayed as around 40-50. All of the main characters are very active in the film, whereas the mother who is older appears weaker and insignificant as she is the only person who dies from the crash, which fits with the traditional stereotypes of an older woman, meaning it is negative representation. Furthermore, the kidnappers (who are represented as 20-30 years old) play an authoritive role which is again quite typical therefore not being very positive. On the other hand, the child is represented quite positively as children are usually seen to follow orders and be very defenceless, whereas the mid-shots of the kidnapping show that he struggles to break free and fights back at one point.

Therefore, overall I would say that our representation is quite mixed in general as some areas are positive, while others portray negative messages.

Institution and Distribution

If I was to think about distributing our film, I would say that it would fit well in a mainstream cinema as our target audience is quite wide due to the mystery thriller genre, which attracts a large number of people. Furthermore, our target audience is very varied meaning mainstream cinema would give us a chance to distribute our film to all of the members in our target audience. Therefore, I would choose a media institution which distributes mainly mainstream products (such as Warner Bros.) and also a company which distributes mainly mystery/thriller or action films as they would be the most effective business to use. Therefore, I would look the distributors of our intertextual references, as they share the genre we included and are all mainstream films. Miramax distribution company distributed the film ‘Three Colours: Blue’ which relates to our film in a variety of ways, especially in the opening. The film shares a crash scene, and many interesting visuals of the travelling car, including reflections in the windows. As explained in the video, we also used a direct intertextuality from the film; the child’s beach ball which falls out of the car after the crash, which we expressed through a teddy bear to express the same messages to the audience. Therefore, I feel this would be a very significant institution for our film distribution, as it has distributed many films which are similar to ours and other mainstream, successful films (including more recently ‘No Country for Old Men’ which is a crime thriller; sharing a similar genre to our film).

Our team also discussed entering various film festivals, and we all decided to at least enter into our local film festival (The Bishop’s Stortford Film Festival) as we feel that because of the varied audiences, it would be very successful and help get our production team known and into the media business. Furthermore, we also sent the link of our film to all of our media teachers in the school, so we could gain useful feedback. One of the teachers emailed a member of the BBFC, as she was impressed with the film, and they agreed that it was ‘up with the best’ of films produced by similar exercises on their MA module, which inspired us further to enter it into film festivals and to gain more feedback and to make the film available to a wider audience.

Our production team logo

Audience

When choosing our audience, we decided on people aged between 15 and 60 because of the results relating to audience that we received. When looking at my survey results, I concluded that the age range would be wide for our film as it involves mature subject matter, but also appeals to a younger audience because of the genre. Also, the genre would definitely appeal to male audiences because of the action and thriller, which is known to be popular with this gender, but could also appeal to women too therefore we also had to attract them.

This gave us a lot of people to address in our film, so we did a test screening in class to see how much the film would appeal to the younger audience, aged around 16-17. We found that a number of people very much enjoyed the film, and both the males and females seemed to be attracted to the film. We created a questionnaire to see whether there were any issues with the film, and we concluded that there were no problems with the sound, editing, casting or mise en scene. The only issue we did find is that some people got confused, so we slightly changed the sequence of shots so that the narrative was more understandable. However, all of the class seemed to thoroughly enjoy the film and it seemed to appeal to everyone. Therefore, our team realised that we had successfully attracted our audience, as all of the elements of the film worked well together. Also, there is a possibility that because the main character was similarly aged to our class members, they felt like they could relate to the film more than if it was an older figure, meaning that our film may appeal to audiences aged around 15-20 more than older audiences because of this factor.

But I decided to look into this further as I had not asked a large number of people over the age of 30 in my survey or the test screening, therefore I could not be certain whether the film appealed to them or not. So I decided to show my film to older audiences I knew, and asked them for any feeback relating to sound, editing, acting, narrative or anything else they felt was important. I asked around 10 people of the age range between 30-60 because I felt this was where I needed more information and opinions from and I asked up to the age of 60 to make sure that I did not miss any unsuspected target audience members. The results showed that many of the people who watched it were in fact greatly interested in the film, and we particularly impacted by the high quality of editing and visual images presented. Even older members of the people asked, between 50 to 60 all said they were attracted to the film and the sound influenced them and that they would be interested in the film if it was distributed as a whole piece. Although the people who took part in this research was small, it was effective feedback to receive, as it meant that the film can be enjoyed by a very vast amount of people, mainly because the hybrid genres, characters and visual images.

Adressing/attracting our audience

This meant we had to think about this audience range when trying to attract and address them, as it is important that we direct the film at our target audience. We felt there was no need to address anyone under the age of 15, as the certificate of our film was a 15 so no one younger than this could view the film, but we did try to address all other ages that we could with a small amount of characters.

As stated before, to attract this audience we introduced a narrative which captured them and made them want to continue watching, as the effects of the kidnappers are unclear when watching. This is created through a small amount of shots showing indistinct images of the kidnappers escape and the goings on in the woods, meaning the audience only gets a narrow insight to what the whole story will involve. This encapsulates the audience into the plot as they are attracted to what will happen next. In addition, there are hidden elements which the audience wants to discover, such as the identity of the kidnappers, which we produced through mise en scene (using their costumes as a disguise) and also the blurred shots which were added in editing.

Another way we captured our audiences’ attention was by not including anything which explains the motivation of the antagonists and the reasoning behind their actions. This would attract the audience as they want to explore these reasons and find out why they did this, as our film overall can be psychological (relating to the Psycho-noir modern mystery genre). To emphasise this attraction, we have made the child seem very innocent, through mise en scene (his clothing and the teddy bear) and also the sound (as it reflects vulnerability) so that the audience feels saddened when the kidnapping takes place as they are involved in the child and do not want him to be hurt. Therefore, when he is pushed down, the audience feels empathetic towards him and are more likely to take a disliking to the kidnappers, meaning they want to watch on in the hope that they are caught and the boy becomes safe.

All of these elements within the film are associated with the mystery and thriller genre, of hidden factors and management of the audiences’ feelings. This is reflected more so through the sound, as it sets the pace and tone of the overall film and as the sound builds, so does the atmosphere and tension, consequently catching the attention of the audience throughout and directing the story and the audiences’ captivation.

New Techonolgy Skills

I have also learnt a lot in the production of this film; mainly on how to use technology in the best way possible to create as high quality film as possible. Initially, in the production stages of construction, I learnt a lot about how to use the camera and how to capture interesting visual shots which would reflect the genre and mood we were trying to express. For example, we experimented a lot in production, as although we had storyboards already produced, while filming we found some shots which would suit the film much better and shots which would be much more entertaining and appealing when watching.

Also, we found angles which would be much more interesting, which were also different to normal media products, such as the shot which is of the young boy asleep in the back of the car which is filmed from outside the window. This was captured by opening the front window and holding the camera on a tripod very still so that the shot could be taken. Experiences like this helped me to discover new ways of filming and how to be more experimental in how I film and all the different angles I could use.

Once we had filmed everything we needed, I then looked for music which would best suit the film. I learnt that there are a lot of copyright free music websites available, which offer you good quality non-diagetic sound, produced especially for media products, which do not cost a vast amount of money. I found this particularly interesting as it means that there is a lot of music available, for a variety of media products and a variety of genres. These pieces of music are then very easy to download from the internet once they are bought. When transferring the music onto the film, I had to burn then onto a disc which was also new to me. This was another new process I had to learn which will definitely help me in the future when I next prepare music in media production.

The last thing I learnt was the whole editing process of a film. When Jackson was first editing, we discussed what would work best and as the film was put together, I watched the process and learned how a film is edited and all the ways you can adapt shots to fit your idea. I also learnt how much impact post-production has on a film, as once we had edited the film and added the sound the film immediately came together.

Advancing from the Preliminary Task

I feel I have also learnt a lot since producing my preliminary film, as I have looked in much more depth at genre, camera work, sound, audience and editing. I planned my work in much more detail as I learnt in my preliminary task that more pre-production work means that the production stage is much more efficient and you can produce a much better quality film because you have thought about exactly what mood, genre and narrative you are trying to express.

Furthermore, when planning my work I looked at genre and the audience which would most be attracted to this style, which helped us all significantly because then we knew what conventions we needed to include and also which audience we needed to focus on addressing, which I did not do as much of in my preliminary task, as we did not look into much detail at the genre of the film and all the conventions involved.

Also, I think we were a lot more creative and experimental in the way we shot the film and the angles and variation of shots used, compared to simple mid-shots which were mainly used in our previous work. This was a key part of production as it made our film a lot more interesting and capturing to watch. We also chose not to use dialogue in our final film, as in the previous film dialogue seemed to take away the use of camera and any interesting areas of the film, which made it quite dull to watch and we found the sound quality a difficultly also. Therefore a lack of dialogue meant that the audience of our final film could focus more on the action, visuals and added non-diagetic sound meaning it was a lot more appealing.

In addition to this, I learnt a lot about sound, as we did not use any non-diagetic sound in our preliminary so searching for some music was a new task and I thought that it helped to build and shape the atmosphere and tone of the film we were trying to get across, which is the biggest comparison of our preliminary and final films.

Therefore I can say we have all learnt a lot from producing our preliminary film to filming our final film and I am pleased we made these improvements. I think that we are still learning a few key aspects of film, such as representation of social groups which I feel we could improve significantly. Also, although we all planned in much more detail and we looked into a lot of different areas so that we had a greater understanding of exactly what we were producing, I think we still could improve on working together in the pre-production process as we all had different ideas and although we eventually compromised with each other and we all were very proud with what we produced, if we had discussed our ideas more specifically in planning, then we could have filmed a lot quicker and we would have had an even better understanding of what we were going to create.

Here also is a short video of screenshots of my film:

I have tried to describe in more detail why we chose the shots we did and how we created them.