My Thriller; 'Lost Boy!'

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

Reviewing both my preliminary Task and my Thriller; i feel that our group has made a huge improvement from our preliminary, the preliminary we done was basic and had confusing dilog, we didn't spend much time on this, we rushed it and later on when looking back on it we noticed. There was scenes that was cut to short or jumped to quickly, this links in to that we didn't know how to use iMovie as good as we become as we did when doing our thriller. Therefore the Thriller we done had a plot and me and the group knew what we was aiming for, we knew what we had to do. Before filming the thriller we shorted out where the shots are going to be taking place, whats camera angles where going to use such as, extreme close up, point of view shot etc. each shot we filmed we watched it over to make sure we had it dead right, if not we would do it right untill it was fine!. whilst doing our thriller we had to think about the props and location, all this had to be concided before filming. The one problem we had that needed improvment was the volume of the music in the thriller it kinder takes over the 'BANGS'. Now i have completed both tasks i think the importants things i have learnt is that i now knoe how to make a movie on iMovie, it took me a long time to get the hang of the editing process but within our group we got there in the end!

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

Whilst making our Thriller i have improved my known ledge on how to use a digital camera in more detail, things like zooming in and out, adjusting the focus. Through this time i have also learnt how to use a iMac, on the iMac i learnt to use the iMovie, using the iMovie at first was a bit tricky but as we used it more it seems to get easier as i got use to it. the iMovie allowed me to use such techniques as straight cuts, jumps, dissolves, fade out, etc.

How did you attract/ adress your audience?

Beforw we started to make our Thriller we created a qustionnair to find out what people wanted to see and what attracts them more when watching Thrillers,we then linked the questionnair to social networks sites such as Facebook, as facebook has many poeple going on it everyday and will get notice.



We also ciculated our Thriller to our friends, family, teachers and published our video on Youtube. Applying our video on Youtube made it available to everyone aroud the world, this allows us to have responses to it and gives us ideas for next time. whilst putting it on Youtube we asked the viewers to outline their review.

Who would be the audience of your media product?

The audience of my Thriller film would be 14+. However our film don't show any scene that would frighten a younger child but it isn't very nice for a younger child to watch, but if there parents would let them then i would say 12+ as it is only 2 minutes. I know this from the information we gathered from doing a questionnaire on 'www.surveymonkey.com'.

What kind of media institution might distrubute your media product and why?

There are different institutions that might distribute our Thriller, but yet that depends where our Thriller would go next, such as it could of become a series, film, or a one off programme. therefore if my Thriller was to be made into a film then it may be distributed similarly to When a stranger calls, because our Thriller and When a stranger calls as roughly the same plots. If our Thriller made it to film, then i would like it to be supported by universal as it is successful around the world. However our Thriller could also be included in the microwave scheme, the Microwave challenges filmmakers to shoot a full-length feature film for a budget not exceeding £100,000, including all cash and in-kind support. A film that uses a microwave scheme is 'Shifty'.

How dose your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller shows both gender, such as we had a boy for the lost part then we had two women, me and Kayleigh as the mum and the baby sitter. we don't have no sterotypes in our thriller. Our younge people are shown in a positive and negative way, such as his postive when his first in the scene but then turns to be negative. The age for my thriller is used to be a younge boy, and an older lady well serposed to be as the babysitter. We used a house that is a semi-detached house, it is also working class.

What ways dose your media product use, develop or challenge forms conventions of real Media products?

My Thriller falls under he conventions of a Thriller, because it contains many aspects as a Thriller such as an aura danger, unexplained moments, a boy in fear and a untold mystery that need solving. My Thriller's theme is suspense and unknown. It is told through the eyes of the main character Kayleigh who is baby sitter, who is also the Thrillers protagonist, leading us through the story's lines. We have no human antagonist within the Thriller, but we do know someone has kidnapped the boy. kidnapping is a suitable start for a Thriller because it offers different types plots to allow the story line to flow further. Questions that will hit the audience whilst watching are 'Who is the kidnapper?''Did the boy leave on his own?''Did the boy really exist?'. The last question brings the protagonist mental state into doubt and is further put into question in the bedroom scene. In the Thriller we see the room, however we don't see the boy in sight, but we know he was in his room as his mum (me) sent him into his room well upstairs. The content suspense and plot twists make our Thriller true to its genre. Using this gives our thriller the original of most thrillers. Films that have influenced us is 'When a stranger calls' and 'Flight plan'. we used some of the clips from When a stranger calls as it fitted in well with our thriller.

Discussioin of appropriate technical competencies

whilst filming our thriller we had to consider; Holding a shot steady; The reason for this is that we don't want the camera to move and make the shots tilt to the left or the right. Another one is using a variety of shot distances, using different types of shots will make the film more interesting and gets you more into the film for example by using a extreme close up on someones face well help understand how he/ she is feeling, what emotions is giving out. we used vary shot transitions such as jump-cuts, fades, dissolves. we also gave our thriller music, to give it the more thriller scary type.

Efficient use of actors, settings, props, sounds

Within our thriller we used Kayleigh Neil, Kayleigh Neil's little brother Connor Neil who is 13 and myself. To start of with we was planning to use a young toddler, or a baby, but we fought it easier to use Connor as we would have more control and would get it done quicker as we had little time. we filmed our thriller in Taylor's house as it fitted in well as the main story is about baby sitting. Some of the sound we used we created ourself such as the doors closing, dropping cans to create a bang! however the music we have in the background we got it of a music site 'news ground'.

Ideas

survey

Click here to take survey

Animatic Storyboard 2

storyboard for our thriller

preliminary exercise

Hitchcock was born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone, London,He was named after his father's brother, Alfred. His family was mostly Roman Catholic, with his mother and paternal grandmother being of Irish extraction. Hitchcock was sent to the Jesuit Classic school St Lgnatius' College in Sramford Hill, London. He often described his childhood as being very lonely and sheltered, a situation compounded by his obesity.Hitchcock said he was sent by his father on numerous occasions to the local police station with a note asking the officer to lock him away for ten minutes as punishment for behaving badly. This idea of being harshly treated or wrongfully accused is frequently reflected in Hitchcock's films.

Hitchcock's mother would often make him address her while standing at the foot of her bed, especially if he behaved badly, forcing him to stand there for hours. These experiences would later be used for the portrayal of the character of Norman Bates in his movie Psycho.Hitchcock's father died when he was 14. In the same year, Hitchcock left St. Ignatius to study at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in Poplar, London. After graduating, he became adraftsman and advertising designer with a cable company.

During this period, Hitchcock became intrigued by photography and started working in film production in London, working as a title-card designer for the London branch of what would become Paramount Pictures In 1920, he received a full-time position at Islington Studios with its American owner,Famous Players-Lasky and their British successor, Gainsborough Pictures, designing the titles for silent movies. His rise from title designer to film director took five years.

n 1929, Hitchcock began work on his tenth film Blackmail. While the film was still in production, the studio, British International Pictures (BIP), decided to make it one of the UK's first sound pictures. With the climax of the film taking place on the dome of the British Museum, Blackmail began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences. In the PBS series The Men Who Made The Movies, Hitchcock had explained how he used early sound recording as a special element of the film, emphasizing the word "knife" in a conversation with the woman suspected of murder. During this period, Hitchcock directed segments for a BIP musical film revue Elstree Calling (1930) and directed a short film featuring twoFilm Weekly scholarship winners, An Elastic Affair (1930). Another BIP musical revue, Harmony Heaven (1929), reportedly had minor input from Hitchcock, but his name does not appear in the credits.

In 1933, Hitchcock was once again working for Michael Balcon. at Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. His first film for the company, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), was a success and his second, The 39 Steps (1935), is often considered one of the best films from his early period. By 1938, Hitchcock had become known for his observation, "Actors are cattle".^[ He once said that he first made this remark as early as the late 1920s, in connection to stage actors who were snobbish about motion pictures

Thriller Conventions

Thriller Conventions

1) a crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily)

2) a complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolution

3) a narrative pattern of establishment enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved

4) a protagonist who is systematically disempowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist

5) extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations

6) themes of identity

7) themes of mirroring

8) themes of voyeurism

9) protagonist with a 'flew' which is exploited by the antagonist

10) titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist psychological slate

11) there is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist to in peril

12) misen-scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist's plight

HEalth and Safety

Health and Safety risk assessment

1) No filming in inappropriate locations

2) Check safety locations e.g roads

3) Minimise rusk if theft or equipment

4) When filming on location ensure teacher or responsible adult know where you are and have telephone number and when you will return

5) Check all equipment is working before you leave

6) Ensure you have permission for filming if necessary

7) Always film with at least in other person

8) Ensure you have the permission of those you are filming

In order to start my coursework, i researched the genre of thriller. Thrillers are abroad genre of literature, a thriller can be a movie, television series, and could also be written within a book. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action and resourceful hero's who must thwart the plan of more powerful and better equipped villains. Devices such as suspense, red-herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively, a thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome. Thrillers often take place in exotic settings such as foreign cities, Heroes in most thrillers are frequently 'hard men' accustomed to danger for example a policemen could be a hero in a thriller. heroes traditionally been men, however women lead characters have become increasingly common. Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, they also occur on a much grander scale; crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism assassination, of the overthrow of governments. The hero will always defeat the thriller. Thrillers may be defined by the primary mood that they elicit; fearful excitement, for example ' if it thrills' its a thriller. There are all different types of thrillers, the common ground is the intensity of emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension, and exhilaration of excitement and breathless.

Welcome, to media blog, my names jessica and this year i am going to be making a thriller.