Evaluation

Our final media piece had to be the start of a thriller movie, lasting approximately two minutes. This is a genre we looked at in and out of lessons for ideas and inspiration. Our piece seemed very similar to the pre-title sequences from the James Bond films. We took inspiration from the shots in these films, namely Goldfinger (1964) and Diamonds are Forever (1971). Like these films, our piece featured establishing shots of locations, as well as mid shots and long shots of the main protagonist.

Goldfinger- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVg23yjKl1g
Diamonds are Forever- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct75nr-WUc&feature=related

In our media piece, we only had one main protagonist, who was the escaped criminal, played by Mark White. In our film, we stereotyped the criminal, by making him use bad language during his escape, and also made him act very shady when in public. It also added to the thriller genre, as he blended in with society and was not easily noticed by any passers by. This would add a bit of fear to the piece and an audience by making the situation as realistic and real to life as possible.

Our media piece fits in as part of the thriller genre. This is a genre mainly aimed at older people, but is still made by most of the main film companies. This means that most film companies would happily distribute this film as they know they have the target audience out there. Unfortunately, as a thriller, it may prove hard to advertise as they would not want to give away too much of the plot while also not wanting to use parts of the films that are seen as inappropriate for daytime advertising. Therefore, I think only the major film companies would take the chance of distributing this, as there are risks to it making little profit due to limited advertising.

As a thriller film, the audience is mainly adult based, but also includes some older teenagers. In this age bracket, there is also a target market of people who specifically enjoy thriller movies. To attract the audience, the beginning left a lot of mystery which could be later explained by the full movie. By keeping the audience in the mystery, they would be more attentive and excited by the rest of the movie.

For our main task, we used a digital video camera to film our piece, using a standard tape as opposed to a HD ready tape. This made files easier to convert and put onto the computer when we edited our piece. To edit our piece, we used Windows Movie Maker. Originally, we were going to use Adobe Premier but, as it was very complicated to use and understand, we didn’t.

After showing our piece to several people, they thought the shots of the protagonist being watched made the audience uneasy for the protagonist. They also thought that the music also helped reflect the mood in the piece, implying when the real mysterious moments are. However, they felt that maybe the final shot was not needed, instead implying the protagonist was dead would keep up the tension as the film starts. Due to this, they felt the story was finished in the 2 minutes rather than only started. If given the chance, i would edit the piece to seem more like the start of a thriller than a whole thriller story.

Since the preliminary task, our work has certainly improved. Our preliminary was poorly organised, with characters being played by more than one actor and a lack of imagination when choosing locations. We also did not keep very loyal to our original storyboard, changing some shots and adding others. Our main task was much better planned, making sure we filmed with the right people in the right places, making it more consistent and looking more professional. We planned the locations better, looking for good places to film before actually filming and using where we filmed to good effect. We also planned a plot and storyboard more thoroughly before as well, making sure that everyone had a good idea of what was being filmed and why. Although we did still change things late on, I still feel that our main task showed some dramatic improvements compared to our preliminary.