Final Film- Abduction

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary task of which we had to do at the beginning of our course just to explore the equipment and different camera angles that were available for us to use. This was a good task for the beginning of our course because it gave us a better insight on what is kind of expected of us. I filmed Harry Reid walking up to a bench and having a conversation with two girls.

Evaluation Question 4

Script

Question 4.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

From the survey I created online on 'Survey Monkey' at the beginning of my planning stage, I came to the conclusion from my results that my target audience would predominately consist of viewers within the age range of 17 or younger to early 20's. From this, I decided to interview someone, who of which fitted in with the conditions of my target audience being a fan of thriller films and also within my targeted age range. His name was Harry and he was 17, I asked him my 'Survey Monkey' questions in order to add the reliability of my answers.

Here I interviewed another person who fitted in with my targeted audience. Her name is Lotta and she has a great interest in Thriller films. She is currently 18 and lives in Jersey. After showing her my final media product, I asked her what she liked most about it and what wasn't so good and could be improved; In her answer she commented complementary on the narrative plot, the choice of actors and criticised the music being that it didn't complement the sequence as it didn't bring enough suspense and tension as it could've.

As Lotta fits the criteria of my target audience, I provided some further questions in order to find out her interests and the reason behind them to evidentially find out more about the targeted viewers.

1. What genre of music to you favour?

2. What clothes do you wear on a day to day basis? And what shops do you normally buy these from?

3. What tv shows or films do you enjoy the most and why?

4. If a full length version of my film was to be released would you be interested in watching it? Why?

Evaluation Question 1

Script

Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

The title of my film "Abduction" was chosen due to the storyline of my opening sequence. It gives a basic idea of what the film's about but without giving too much away. I believe that my title links in with typical conventions of the thriller genre of which I chose to base my sequence on because it builds up suspense and puts the viewer on edge. The name "Abduction" can also be seen as a challenge of a media convention for the psychological thriller genre seeing as their plot normally has a clearer connection with the title and go straight to the point. I believe that the effects used on my titles do not challenge any conventions because a fade in/fade out is a clever and commonly used effect in the thriller industry. 

The locations in which I chose to base my film in have been chosen specifically to fit in with the conventions of a real media product. For instance, the four location shots at the beginning of my opening sequence have been included to present a kind of council state location where lots of trouble goes on, hence the use of police sirens and the baby screaming to represent young pregnancy. I decided to include the sign 'Care Home' in one of these location shots the reinforce the dangerousness and oddness of the area. I also chose to include a shot of a states school and the local convenience store to emphasise this poor location and also to  give the viewer a better insight on the surrounding area of the location of the incident.

I decided to dress my main actress (the victim) in her school uniform to reinforce how easily these children can get taken being that Mia featured in my opening sequence walking back home from school. The school uniform costume can be seen as very naturalistic as it is worn most days of the week therefore fits in with the conventions of a real media product as most thriller films choose to keep outfits simplistic so that it doesn't attract the audience to the costumes but leads them to focus on the narrative. The costume of my witness is also simplistic as she is just an everyday women doing to food shopping. The outfit of my kidnapper was chosen due to my knowledge of existing thrillers where the murder or kidnapper etc usually dresses to hide their identity as much as possible but without looking too suspicious.

I attempted to use a wide variety of shots during the opening of my film because that is what you would expect to see in a real media product. I didn't chose to include any added effects such as slow-motion because I believe that my narrative is straight forward but brings the impact in itself such as the pace of the shots when the girl is getting abducted. 

I believe the font I chose doesn't challenge forms and conventions of real media products because it is quite a basic font so that all my titles are easy to read however, it also has its own individuality representing many thriller conventions with the cracked/ attacked-like style. The colours chosen for the fonts vary from white to red, I have used many greys, reds, whites and reds and I believe they have many connotations which fit in with the thriller genre. For example, red represents blood, death or fear.

I also believe that my opening sequence challenges forms and conventions of the thriller genre as it includes a lot of ambiguity, leaving the audience filled with many possibilities behind the plot. The girl gets abducted but was there a reason behind it? Has it been planned over several months? What happens to the girl next? It leaves the audience intrigued and should therefore ensure that they would watch on.

I think that my opening sequence clearly displays its genre as the thriller genre is reinforced by the fast pace of shots which is a common convention of many thriller films, the fast pace of the shots and the quantity of them add to emphasise the suspense and tension. I also believe that the thriller genre is established through the locations as they represent a council state location which usually is known for its bad reputations in crime, therefore this type of setting is a convention of the thriller genre. On the other hand, I also understand that my opening sequence challenges forms and conventions of the thriller genre through the age and style of my characters as I have featured younger actors than those who normally feature as kidnappers and victims in thriller films and the audience may get the wrong impression and assume the film is in the indie/teen genre.

The characters in my opening sequence are introduced separately and this consequently challenges the conventions of existing media products. It challenges conventions of existing media products as there are no direct relationships seen between characters and it is not obvious of the history of each of the characters whether they have one or don't. However, the relationships between characters can possibly be understood by the sequence and order of the shots. Switching from the victim to the kidnapper then the witness. My opening sequence mainly consists of different shots of my characters with the exception of my location shots, this is a convention of existing thriller films and they show the audience their clear reference within my film.

Evaluation Question 2

Script


Question 2


How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I researched typical abduction victims in thriller films and compared them to my main victim in my film opening to represent a particular social group. My victim was played by my sister Mia Tanguy who is 12 years old. I chose to include her because she represents an innocent child victim which I have experienced in many films such as 'Taken' where Liam Nelsons daughter gets abducted, Ransom where the son gets taken and a wire in the blood episode opening where a young school girl gets abducted whilst walking home from school.

Firstly, Maggie Grace, an actress who stars as a 20 year old daughter/victim in the film 'Taken' presents a typical middle-class background. We experience in 'Taken' that age is not an issue when it comes to being a victim of abduction therefore there is no difference in having a 12 year old female victim compared to a 20 year old female victim. Similarly to my featured victim, Maggie Grace is a female and females are usually seen to be the stereotypical versions of 'easy victims'. 

Secondly, the school girl who stars in one of the opening sequences of one of the 'Wire in the Blood' episodes has understandably not had much experience in acting being that she doesn't actually star in the episodes at all and just in the opening. This links in with my actress of my sister being a young school girl who hasn't had much experience in acting career and has only participated in acting in school drama and in my media product. The costume of the young girl was chosen primarily due to reinforce her age and vulnerability, I took up this idea and dressed my main actress in her school uniform.

Thirdly, Brawley Nolte starred as a young boy at the time of the release of Mel Gibson's film 'Ransom' (1996) an American thriller. In the film he was a vulnerable young boy who got kidnapped, this suggests that those most vulnerable in society are liable to being kidnapped and also supports the reason behind my choice of a young actress. He has also starred in another thriller 'Affliction'. He is dressed in casual clothes to reflect how easily these abductions can happen as it could've been any minute of any day.

To conclude, I believe that my actress Mia Tanguy aged 12 years relates to all three of these actors\actresses and would attract the same target audience consisting of a fan base of people interested in kidnapping thrillers. I would say all three actors/actresses are young and vulnerable, however others being slightly younger than the others. Therefore I think that Mia would be a successful representation to social groups as she fits the conventions of a typical young victims role in a thriller film.

Evaluation Question 5

Script


Question 5.


How did you attract/address your audience? 


To attract my target audience, I have incorporated multiple different factors into mu media product.

One of the main things i did was to use typical conventions usually included in thriller films which attract a similar target audience to my specific target audience. Typical conventions of a thriller films characters being something along the lines of a murderer and a victim in other words a villian-driven plot, therefore I chose to include characters such as a kidnapper, a victim and a witness which suited the criteria and conventions thoroughly.

Music wise, I edited together and created a piece of intense music in order to bring suspense at particular moments and also tension and excitement as main elements. As found out from research on the thriller genre, the audience and fans of thriller films expect to be kept alert and on the edge of there seats hence the reason for my soundtrack.

Another technique I acknowledged was the narrative plot of my film. From past experience of thriller films I had a basic idea of what was required to enable a thriller piece, that being including as many of the primary elements of thriller films into my opening sequence. 

▪ The central protagonist(s) faces death, either their own or somebody else's.

• The force(s) of antagonism must initially be clever and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character who cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist/s and antagonist/s may battle not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, characters are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.

Evaluation Question 6

Script

Question 6

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

The main thing I learnt from the construction of my product was the range of opportunities available for the development of my film through the process of different technologies. These ranging from varied computer softwares such as Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Adobe After Effects and iMovie which in effect gave me access to the most advanced editing programs and therefore the best opportunity available to create my film sequence. In addition, I have also learnt how to contract documentaries with my progress for planning and construction using iMovie where I can import photos, screen grabs and footage and voiceover. I have used all of these programs with smaller projects before my final piece in order to learn their designs and abilities ready for the making of my final project.

I have also been using a Canon 7D to film all my footage for each project such as the preliminary task, the mundane task and my final product. Along with the use of a 7D I have used a tripod, I learnt from this, the advantages of using one as it ensures a steady movement. Furthermore, I have also experimented with an over-shoulder mount, a crane and a tracking dolly however did not use them for my final product.

Over the course I have been using an online blog to store all most work onto, I found blogger really useful because it allowed me to upload videos from my youtube channel and to annotate them on the same post, I updated it regularly with ideas, research, my progress, information and videos for numerous tasks. With the use of blogger I have increasingly realised that it's the best way to present all the features listed before, either through screen caps or visual aids. My blog also enabled me access to other peoples blogs which gave me some guidance when I was unsure on certain things.

As mentioned briefly before, I have also been using a youtube account to upload all my footage onto. Having a youtube channel also allowed me to interact with others as well as expanding my knowledge of technology available online. Furthermore, I have used various other guidance websites such as Art of the Titles where I had access to many opening sequences and could analyse them, and the website Video co-pilot where I got access to many tutorials and a great amount of guidance on creating an Ident for my production company.