How did you attract/adress your audience ?
In order to attract or address our audience we needed to establish what attracted the them to the thriller genre. We included some of the questions in our questionnaire that would help us in determining what codes and conventions the audience like best in a thriller. As the feedback we received was positive it allowed us to use stereotypes to create a twist as the feedback showed us that the majority of people thought that a twist and violence is a better element to a thriller. In order to attract our audience we needed to create an enigma as suspense is vital in keeping the viewer intrigued. By changing the antagonist from the obvious stereotypical perception of Jerome to the white female of Betty it helps to create an enigma. We also added some action and violence in the form of a punch to help dramatise the abduction of Sophie.
In our thriller we created a character that the audience can identify with. Sophie is your typical college teenage girl as there’s nothing unusual about her. In many thrillers the typical girl is commonly used as the victim because the audience can relate and sympathise with her.
We attracted the audience by using the scenario of a schoolgirl walking home from school and being abducted. This is based on real life cases that happens to young girls across the globe. An example is Milly Dowler a famous case were a young teenaged girl was abducted on her way back from school and later murdered.
BBC News Milly Dowler 
Also our media product touches on the issue of forced prostitution, human trafficking is a problem around the world and we touch on this in our thriller it raises the seriousness and brutality of sex trafficking. This shows how we have linked reality to our media product in order to attract and address our audience.
We also addressed our audience through advertisement and promotion. To do this I created a group page for our production company on the popular social networking site facebook. So that our audience can connect with our media product over the internet. This inadvertently creates viral marketing which will attract a wider audience and also free advertising. Above is a print screen of the Ikonic facebook fan page through this our audience can receive updates on the film release dates and general information. Users can join the group and also invite their friends.
Also our film is uploaded on to you tube a user generated site where our opening sequence can be accsessed by anyone. Also at the bottom they can leave feedback which will aid the evaluation of our product.
We created a poster for our media product it clearly displays the name of the film, the production logo and the certification age. This is a marketing ploy in order to attract and address our audience this is a widely used advertisement form for films.
Question 5
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the creation of our media product we had to encounter various types of technologies both software and hardware alike.
Firstly we was introduced to many types of software to make our blog as presentable as possible and function better for visitors to our blog. The format would enable viewer to see our progression from research to planning and then production. Some of the software was unfamiliar to me so we had to learn how to use them in a short amount of time.
As the Apple Macintosh’s were the only computers in our college with software that was adequate enough to finish our media product to a high standard i had to use them for the majority of work. As i use a Microsoft vista at home i was unfamiliar with the format in which Macintosh operates in. I struggled a great deal at first with locating many of the programmes as they were completely different to Microsoft although the programmes on the mac were of a higher standard like Photoshop and final cut pro . I struggled with basic tasks and it took longer to perform the tasks than it would on Microsoft. However as time progressed i got used to its interface mainly through trial and error. I was able to see the quality it added to my work and through using the mac for my media product i can now us the apple Macintosh effectively in general use.
The first piece of online software we used was ‘bubbl.us’, it was our first time in using the software which created our brainstorm for our thriller, we mapped out the cast/setting/music/props etc. It enables viewers to our blog to navigate through our mind map in an informative and highly presentable way.
I then used a programme called ‘scribd’ this was the first time i used this software but it was very easy to function. I put all of my word documents and my graphs on there and later imbedded it on to my blog this helped to make my blog look more presentable and easier to scroll up and down. The format allows viewers of the blog to view the document. We did have some problems initially when uploading the scribd documents to our blog, but they were shortly resolved with some adjustments to the html coding as i increasingly used the program it became easier to use.
During the production phase, as i filmed part of the opening sequence i had to use the camera equipment which i was unfamiliar with to start.
The camera we used was a Sony Pd170p it had many functionalities and can record in high picture quality. As i was new to using the software i had an induction on using the cameras by our media teacher. This helped me in order to keep the cameras safe and functioning properly. Since we started filming to when we finished i feel that i have learnt a great deal about using these cameras. Firstly at the start i made silly errors like leaving the leans cover on and had difficulty locating some of the functions like playback and zoom, But after various re-shoots and getting used to the camera i was able to use it sufficiently by the end, as you can see in our end product.
Along with the camera, the tripod which is the stand for the camera needed to be used during our production. Although I was also new to using this piece of equipment it was fairly simple to use as i had an induction on using it from my media teacher. It has various leavers to adjust the camera angle and height and also to maintain the cameras stability. As the camera is an expensive piece of media equipment it was important we knew how to adjust it properly to the camera in order to not damage it. I felt that i managed to use the tripod affectively during our production.
In all, through the process of research, planning and production I have come across various new technologies which I had to encompass into my media product although I am not 100 percent efficient in using all of the new technologies I have embraced. I feel I can use them to an adequate standard compared to when i started.
Below is a video tutorial on the camera which helped me in getting familiar with the equipment.
Question 7
7) Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
- I feel that my transition from preliminary to main task was successful as i understand the importance of research and planning in pre production. As the preliminary task was just a test of our camera skills, in creating a media product all of the elements had to be right for it to be a credible thriller. Through textual analysis, studying narrative codes and theory’s i found that the smallest of errors can have a dramatic effect on the audience. This opened up my scope as a director as i knew everything needed to be in place in order to make a good production that challenged thriller conventions in a way that would not be confusing to the audience.
- The preliminary task had no real pre-production, whereas our opening sequence had a story board, shot list, production brief, prop and cast notes etc. This made the process easier as it stopped us from wasting time filming shots we didn’t need and we had a plan on what types of shot we would use to help in creating a realistic opening sequence. It helped me as a director because i had a set plan on shots so that we wouldn’t stray to far exploring other shots whilst filming.
- We also had a progression in using the camera as in the preliminary task we broke the 180 degree rule (see fig 5) this was a problem for us but luckily we had time to film again. We knew that in our main task we could not make the same mistakes again as it could cost us valuable filming time and could possibly ruin our whole production. As you can see from our preliminary to our final piece our camera work and shot continuity has improved vastly.
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Figure 5
Below is a video demonstrating the 180 degree rule in film production.
Directors filming journal
Friday 5th March 2010
We filmed the first scene outside of the college for this we only needed one of the cast. This was basic shots of her leaving the college we stuck to the original shot list and plan. We had trouble setting the tripod to different positions and angles which wasted a lot of time between each shots also filming at a time where it was clear from the general public outside the college gates. I helped the camera man in filming various shots at both locations and directed the cast during filming to benefit the shots taken. When we looked at the footage of the opening scene in the editing suite i was not happy with the continuity of the shots and also there was too
much head space. The acting was not meeting our expectations also when considering the scenes had to create fear, suspense and action to create a credible and realistic thriller as the director I made the decision to re-shoot the scene.
Monday 15th March 2010
After various cast let downs and problems with scheduling we found a new cast who would be flexible enough to meet our filming demands. This was the first time filming with our new cast, we originally planned to film in the morning but due to the area being busy we filmed in the afternoon. We kept in mind the mistakes we made when filming the first time around and try to rectify this when re-filming. Lighting was a problem as it was quite bright but we new that this could altered in the editing process. When we looked back at the footage we saw that a majority of the shots we were pleased with but there still was a few shots preferably in the shot reverse shot scene and the point of you shot that needed to be re-filmed. Also there was trouble in getting a car that was suitable for our thriller and also we had a two minute thriller to construct and the car scene would go over that time period. So as the director i decided to change the ending to the character of Sophie being dragged off down the alley, as opposed to her being bundled into a car.
Thursday 18th March 2010
Although the deadline was looming i knew that the a few shots had to be re filmed in order to get the most possible marks, so today we retook those shots. As the camera man was unable to attend i took over the role of cameraman. I explored some different ideas as I knew this would be the last chance we would get to re film before the deadline so i added a brief phone conversation with the character betty and her boss with close up shots on the phone and also of her. We also re filmed the punch scene because i felt that the shot didn’t have the right impact that it needed to. Upon viewing these new shots in the editing suite i am confident that they will be suitable for editing into our thriller.