Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my thriller form I used many of the typical forms and conventions. However, I also developed them to make the expected things different and interesting and also suit our own indivdual film.

The beginning of our film shows an event from the main character's past. To signify that it is a flashback we edited the film to make those particular scenes black and white. Though flashbacks in thriller films are quite common I feel that we developed the technique by editing the clips to make them black and white. This not only clearly shows the audience that it is a flashback but also puts across feelings of rememberance and nostalgia. Black and white can also show how the event is a negative event as the absence of colour sometimes represents sadness or fear, both of which are feelings relevant to the scene and film as a whole.

In the flashback, the "baddie" is the father - a man in a position of power. Having a man in a position of power as the villian is a common convention in thrillers. However, as he is the father of the eventual killer (Mikey), he can be seen as the role model or cause of what his son later does and this is what we wanted to put across - that a person's past can have a great effect on them in later life.

Mikey is also a stereotypical character. He is a schitzophrenic - killer's with mental problems are a common convention in thrillers - and a male. However, he is different from the usual schitzophrenics portrayed in thrillers as we had another actor play his multiple personality (Gabriel) and showed them both in the same scene at the same time. By doing this, the audience do not know that Mikey is the one doing the killings as Gabriel until right at the very end. This builds suspense, tension and keeps the audience interested, gripped and guessing all the way through the film.

Gabriel himself is also a clear stereotype. He's the main villain of the story - dark haired, dressed in smart, black clothes and menacingly charming to get what he wants. We developed this commonly used character by having him as a part of someone else's character. We felt this would not only keep the audience interested but help keep the character himself fresh and exciting.

The type of music we used is also a common convention in Thriller movies. It is high-pitched and mainly stringed and placed to build tension, suspense and fear. However, the music we chose for our opening is slower then the music commonly used by Thrillers. We did this to show the tragic element of our story - a young boy losing his sanity and the breakdown of a family - to evoke a range of emotions in our audience. We feel that by doing this the audience would feel more emotionally attached to the characters and become more involved in the film as a whole, making it more interesting and engaging.

We also used a very typical setting - a big, creepy, old house - for our film and used a common low angle shot looking up at the building to establish that the place has power but not in a good way. By doing this twice at different points in our film - once in black and white as part as the flash back and once in colour in the present - we allow the audience to make their own connections between the two clips and come to their own conclusion.

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

After researching various UK production companies, my group and I feel that our media product would be produced and distributed by DNA Films in partnership with Fox Searchlight Pictures.

DNA Films is a fairly recent company and was set up in 2007 by Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew MacDonald, though Kenworthy opted out in 2002. In 2003, DNA Films went into partnership with Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Fox Searchlight Pictures is led by President Peter Rice and Chief Operating Officers Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley. It is “a filmmaker-oriented company that focuses on distinctive films helmed by world-class auteurs and exciting newcomers.” It was founded in 1994 as an independent arm of 20th Century Fox. It has it’s own marketing and distribution operations and it’s films are also distributed worldwide by 20th Century Fox.

Both companies have produced and distributed many successful films including Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and Juno as well as thrillers Notes On A Scandal, The Clearing, One Hour Photo, 28 Days Later and Best Laid Plans.

These thrillers films are mostly psychological – as ours is – and certified either 15 or 18. This means that our thriller film, we feel, would fit into their general target audience but may also attract a few younger viewers that may watch their other films such as Juno and The Wrestler. Most of these companies’ films have been very successful in the box office and we would obviously like this to be the case for our film if it were to be made.

Who would be the audidnce for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

The target audience of our film, Missing, is males and females aged 15 – 30. It is a fairly large audience meaning our film would reach many people.

We attracted and addressed our target audience by making the plot of our film something they, to some extent, could relate to. Our characters are in their late teens – around the same age as our audience or an age they can, at least, clearly remember being – and are going on their first holiday alone, something common to the age group of our target audience. This makes it easier for our audience to put themselves in our character’s position and imagine what they’d be doing in their place, making the film more engaging, interesting and frightening.

We also made our characters common teenage stereotypes that are easily recognisable to our target audience. For example, Robbie was the typical “jock”, dressing in tracksuit tops and trainers. From this, our audience can guess what sort of character he is likely to be – popular, funny – and feel that they know him better and can also relate him to people of the same clique or stereotype that they may know, again adding to the films realism.

So that our target audience could understand and be entertained by our film, we were also careful with the language we used. As our characters were mostly 17 – 18 they spoke informally as people of that age would amongst each other. However, we didn’t use any “street slang” and this allowed the audience to make assumptions about what sort of people our characters are, what kind of background they have and what they do. We also felt that Gabriel should speak slightly more formally than the others to show his higher level of power and control, especially over Mikey.

Overall, we did these things so that the film directly addressed and appealed to our target audience and so that they could understand it. The way it relates to their own lives and the level of realism that we created also makes the film more frightening and, therefore, entertaining.

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

During the process of making my media product, I learnt a lot about the technologies and techniques used when creating a film and how important they are to make the finished product look polished and professional.

I learnt how to use continuity editing to ensure that the plot line could be followed easily and logically with no plot holes or inconsistencies. It signals to the audience the chronological order of the plot, the relationships between characters and is also used to add more realism. This includes using diagetic sound, the 180 degree rule and establishing shots. We were careful to make sure that, while shooting, we used the same light and noise levels for the same scene and, if appropriate, the same location. When editing, we ensured all our clips were in the right order and edited to run cleanly from one shot to the next.

We also used editing for effect. For example, the black and white flashbacks. We used editing like this to signal something about the plot to our audience – to tell them the event was in the past – or to draw out a certain emotion or range of emotions in connection to a scene or shot, such as nostalgia, fear, sadness and pity.

I learnt how to use music to create an effect. We learnt where it is best to use music for the effect we wanted – suspense and fear -, what sort of music to use and whether to fade it in and out or have it sudden and loud for the best effect. We mainly developed this skill through watching films in the same genre with a similar target audience and making a note of how they used music to create a certain emotion.

We also learnt how to use the camera and other equipment for the best results. We always used a tripod for a steady shot, learnt how to zoom, pan and crab well, used large, bright torches for lighting when needed and tried to minimise noise when necessary to ensure that our film looked and sounded as professional as it could.

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

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that I have learnt a lot while progressing to my final product.

While planning my preliminary task, I didn’t think about how I would find the sort of setting I wanted. This caused problems when it came to filming. Therefore, when choosing a setting for our thriller film, my group and I thought ahead about what locations were realistically accessible to us. This made filming and planning a lot easier and quicker.

With my preliminary task I also had problems with background noise. To try and avoid this with our final product, we chose places at our location where we knew we would be least likely to be interrupted. To help with this, we also kept the number of people we had around to a minimum. This helped a lot. It made the process of filming less chaotic, we didn’t have to film as many takes, everyone knew where they were meant to be and when and it significantly reduced the amount of unwanted background noise.

Finding reliable actors was also a problem so, learning from my preliminary, we asked well in advance for our thriller film and kept our actors updated often to ensure they wouldn’t forget or arrange anything else. Unfortunately, this didn’t work very well as two of our actors still didn’t show to film but, in the run up to filming, knowing we had planned in advance did make everything easier.

While editing our thriller film we further developed our skills using the iMacs and iMovie. This made the editing process quicker, easier and less stressful then it had been with my preliminary task as I knew where to find things, what to do and how to achieve the effect that we wanted.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We used many different typical teenage stereotypes in our film. We did this so our audience can easily identify and relate to our characters and know what to expect from them.

Mikey's parents are the stereotypical charming, possessive, agressive alcoholic father and weak, bullied mother. Though they're not in the film for long, the audience can quickly identify these stereotypes in them and it instantly tells them something about the family. These stereotypes do not represent parents or families in a positive way. Our representation of a family shows them as arguing, bullied, scared and controlling. It also shows how the man in the relationship is more dominant and powerful then the woman, another common stereotype.

Gabriel is also a stereotypical villian - charming, subtley powerful, controlling and agressive. He dresses in dark colours and only appears to watch or cause trouble. We used this stereotype as we felt it wasn't too unrealistic - not the stereotypical supernatural villian - and most people woould be able to relate to some of the aspects of his personality, adding to the realism and fear.

Other stereotypes we used were jock, plastic, popular girl and the innocent girl next door. These are common teenage stereotypes and we used them so are characters could be easily identified and related to.

Thriller Film Planning

Storyboard







Opening Summary – Missing.

Our opening will start with a long shot, in black and white, of an old car driving up a country lane. This is a younger Mikey, his alcoholic father and depressed mother making their way to their annual stay at an old country hotel. The car comes round the corner of the lane, showing the audience who’s inside it, and then drives up to the hotel where it parks. Mikey’s father drags him from the car and the family go into the hotel. It is obvious all the time that mother and father don’t get on; they are constantly digging at each other. Once the family get to their room, mother and father quickly get into a big argument. The father is swigging from a bottle of vodka from his pocket. Finally, he storms out, leaving the mother crying on the bed. Awkwardly, Mikey leaves the room. Later, he comes back and finds his mother has hung herself and his father is nowhere to be seen. The last black and white shot is a close-up of young Mikey’s face into which Gabriel will come, resting his chin on Mikey’s shoulder.

There will be no dialogue heard throughout this part of the opening but the actors will be seen to be talking. It will have a soundtrack of high pitched, string music, varying from fast and slow.We will then cut back to colour shots. The first will be the same as the last shot – a close up of Mikey and Gabriel – only this time Mikey will be older and a lot happier. In the background, you’ll be able to hear his friends laughing, joking and talking as they unpack the car. They are staying at the same hotel Mikey and his parents did but Mikey doesn’t seem to remember. The shot will cut to his friends then back to a medium shot of Mikey getting out with his bags. Gabriel isn’t there. Our last shot will be a long shot looking down at the group coming into the hotel from one of the top floor windows.

Our titles will fade in to the screen with letters missing. These letters will then drop in before the titles fade back out.

Character Profiles

Name: Michael Tipler
Nicknames: Mike, Mikey.
Age: 17
D.O.B: 06/06/1992
Stereotype: None.

Physical appearance/mannerisms/dress: Mikey is small and thin for his age. He looks very innocent and harmless – the last person you’d pick out from a crowd or suspect of any wrongdoing. He isn’t incredibly good-looking or ugly; everything about him is very average and normal.

Mikey doesn’t spend a lot of time on his appearance. He usually wears baggy jeans and plain t-shirts and has no set attitude towards fashion. He doesn’t fit in with any of the teenaged stereotypes – Chav, Emo, Jock etc whereas his friends all appear to fit into specific clichés.
He’s also quiet and shy, preferring to blend into the background then to have the spotlight and this comes across in the way he holds himself and moves. He doesn’t stride or swing his arms confidently but walks steadily and tucked in, hands in pockets and arms held close to his sides or fidgeting nervously with his hair or clothes. He rarely seems fully relaxed, especially when on his own.

Psychological:
Shy - Mikey has always been shy when meeting new people and finds it difficult to make friends easily. He has known his current group of friends since he was young and they are very close.

Polite - Mikey has always been bought up to be polite and treat people with respect and with all the traditional morals and values - a proper gentleman. This is obvious in the way he talks and acts, even towards his friends.

Loyal - Mikey has known his friends for a long time and would stick by them no matter what. He'd do anything they asked him to if it meant enough to them. He'd never dream of intentionally hurting anyone of them.

Naive - Mikey’s very trusting of the people close to him and will believe practically anything they say.

Easily pressured - Mikey isn't a very stubborn or strong willed person and is easily pressured into things he doesn't really want to.

Scared of confrontation - Mikey has never liked arguing and will always back down, wrong or right, just to avoid one.

Name:- Caroline Tipler
Age:- 43
D.O.B:- 07/05/1965
Stereotype: Frail, weak mother.

Physical appearance/mannerisms/dress:- At first look Caroline is a tall, thin women who looks very unsure of herself and appears as though she couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt a fly. She is the stereotypical caring mother who would do anything for her son, so she is constantly fussing over Mickey much to the annoyance of her husband who see it as her smothering him and making him less of the man he wants him to be. Caroline is also a clear sufferer of domestic violence. She tends to hide behind her husband or those around her, for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing, and she prefers not to be noticed in almost any situation.

Caroline’s dress is strictly what her husband will allow so she tends to wear things that are unlikely to of cost much, often from a charity shop or are hand me down clothes, she is also unlikely to wear anything that will make her stand out in anyway. Caroline is only allowed to ‘dress up’ in social situations in which her husbands feels it would benefit him.

Caroline is very quiet and often shies away from social situations. She often stands, sits or walks tucked into her self and never uses big elaborated gestures for fear of attracting attention. Caroline is never fully relaxed and appears to flinch a lot, especially around her husband. She likes to keep busy whether with house work or looking after her family as this distracts her from thinking about her life.

Psychological:-

Loyal - Caroline is very loyal to her husband and her son and never speaks about there problems to anyone.

Proud - Caroline is very proud of her family and her home and very often is to proud to ask for help for fear of ruining the perfect family image she feels she has.

Insecure - after years of abuse from her husband Caroline has a very low self-esteem and often can’t stand to look at herself.

Nervous - Caroline is often very nervous in social situation for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. Caroline is also often extremely nervous near her husband and often feels she creates an argument through being so scared.

Timid - Caroline is easily pushed into things by her husband and is often pushed into things by people around her just to save confrontation.

Depressed - Caroline suffers from depression due to her husbands violence but has never asked for help due to her pride.


Relationship to other characters:-

Caroline is Mikey’s mother. Caroline loves her little boy more than anything and feels by taking his dad beating and living a lie she is protecting him.

Caroline is the wife of peter. Caroline is a victim of domestic violence but stays with her husband as she truly believes he will change, but also as she is so low she feels she needs him and could not make it on her own.

Name:- Peter Tipler.
Nicknames:- Pete.
Age:- 43.
D.O.B:- 30/09/1965
Stereotype: Bullying, alcoholic father.

Physical appearance/mannerisms/dress:- Peter is a large man, well groomed with a good job and a ‘loving’ family on appearance. He is the stereotypical proud dad who likes to show off and is always pushing his son into ’Boy stuff’ and things he feels he should be doing e.g. football. He acts bold, out going and is always prepared to be the talk of the party, but never in a bad way, he likes to show off his family and his son especially.

He often dresses formally, in suits or shirts, which normally looks odd against his wife’s dreary appearance. Peter appears to look after himself appearance wise and always looks clean from his well groomed hair to his squeaky clean shoes.

Peter is loud and loves social activity as he sees it as a chance to show off his ‘perfect’ life. Peter walks very tall and big using elaborate gestures to make sure people notice him and often swings his arms or makes some sort of noise, e.g. whistling, as he goes along as to casually get peoples attention.

Psychological:-
Controlling - Peter likes to feel like he’s in charge of everything around from his job to the way his house is run.

Alcoholic - Peter relies on drink to help him keep control in his day to day life. This addiction came around when peter lost his former job and felt like he’d lost control of his life and so turned to drink.

Insecure - Peter is secretly insecure about his drinking addiction and knows that sooner or later he will lose everything but he hides it behind more drink.

Violent - Peter has a very bad temper and often beats his wife when she does not complete tasks to his high standards or sometimes just to feel in control.

Proud - Peter is too proud to admit he has an addiction and receive help as he feels it will ruin his image.

Social - peter enjoys social situations for two reasons one is that while surrounded by people Peter is very unlikely to lose his temper and the other is while surrounded by people Peter can play the perfect family man and may even be able to kid himself into believing this disguise is real.


Relationship to other characters:-

Peter is Mikey’s father. Mikey very rarely is on the receiving end of his father’s violence, this is because before the addiction really kicked in peter used to spend time with Mikey and deep down he still loves him very much he just struggles to show it and prefers to use tough love.

Peter is the husband to Caroline. Peter tries hard not to attack Caroline but finds that she is often the only person around when he comes home after work and so she receives it the most. Peter still loves Carol just as with Mikey he struggles to show it to her.


Name: Gabrielle.
Nicknames: He doesn’t have any.
Age: 17.
D.O.B: N/A.
Stereotype: Charming, powerful, loner.

Physical appearance/dress/mannerisms: Gabrielle is almost the exact opposite of Mikey. He is sturdy and muscled and tall, making him look intimidating. He has dark hair, dark eyes and there is always a certain sinister charm to him. Unlike Mikey, he is the sort of person who would stand out.

He is always dressed in dark, semi-formal clothes. Black trousers or jeans with a black shirt that has the sleeves rolled up and the top button always undone. He never wears bright colours or just t-shirts and jeans. Gabrielle is very obviously confident bordering on arrogant. He walks with a slight, easy swagger, head held high. He isn’t afraid of showing his emotions – he’ll sigh and finger tap when bored, grit his teeth and snap, even shout, when angry – and doesn’t seem to care what other people think of his behaviour or attitudes. There is almost always a smug little smirk lingering on his mouth.

Psychological: Gabrielle is the other side of Mikey’s split personality. He’s confident, slightly arrogant and very bossy. He expects everyone to do everything he says just because he says so and he wants it done in the way he has told them to do it. There is no compromising with Gabrielle. He doesn’t understand things like pity and compassion and thinks they are weak and useless. He also has a very bad temper. It doesn’t take much to get Gabrielle worked up into a fit of rage so bad that he will shout and get violent. He can be frightening when he wants to be but also knows how to be dangerously charming and use it to his advantage. He is not stupid.

Gabrielle calls no one a friend and, though he denies it and tries to hide it, is really very lonely. This could explain why he is so possessive over Mikey and why he gets so furious whenever anyone gets close to him.

Relationships: . Mikey – Mikey is the only one who knows of Gabrielle’s existence and, though he is frightened of it, he doesn’t really understand. He is never sure if Gabrielle is a real person or a figment of his own imagination but does what he says not only out of fear but because he feels he should.

Gabrielle hates all of Mikey’s friends and his girlfriend as he sees them as a threat and they don’t know he even exists.

Name: Jennifer Swan.
Age: 17.
Mikey's longterm girlfriend.
Stereotype - Innocent victim. Girl-next-door.

Name: Robbie Coles.
Age: 17.
Mikey's best friend.
Stereotype - Popular Jock. Outgoing, funny, leader.

Name: Scarlett Davies.
Age: 17.
Robbie's girlfriend. Clingy, needy, attention seeking.
Stereotype - Popular, plastic girl.



Script.

(In the car/outside the hotel.)

Scene starts with a long shot of the car coming towards the camera. In the car are MIkey and his parents. It is obvious Peter is talking a lot and his manner is agressive. Next to him, Caroline is drawn into herself, staring ahead with very little expression. Mikey is in the back, staring blankly out of the window.

The car stops outside the hotel. Peter gets out first, followed by his wife. He slams the car door shut while Caroline gently closes hers.

Peter: [to Caroline] ...can never get anything right, can you? You're a waste of bloody space.

He opens Mikey's door while Caroline stands off to one side, looking ashamed. He grabs Mikey by the collar and drags him out.

Peter: [to Mikey] Hurry up! You're just like your mother!

As the bags are unloaded from the car, Peter continues to argue with Caroline and ignore Mikey all the way to the doors of the hotel.

Caroline: Please, Pete, not in front of Mikey...

Peter: Don't you tell me what to do, you stupid slag! I'll do what I want, when I want to do it!

Caroline: ...I'm sorry...I just...I don't want him to have to -

Peter: Shut up!



(Black scene)

Peter is shouting while Caroline is sobbing in the background.

Peter: It's your fault that boy is such an outcast! A loser! You! You with your mollycoddling and lack - of - discipline! Who are you to bring up my son!? He'd be better off without you.

Sound of a hard slap and a muffled scream.


(In the hotel)

Caroline and Peter are still arguing with Peter getting more and more angry and agressive. Mikey is standing in the doorway, watching. He's scared but used to this type of scene.

Caroline: I'm sorry! I'm s-so sorry! I don't mean to upset you, I don't mean to...

Peter: Don't give me that rubbish, woman. Giving me the wrong directions, looking at that bit of eyecandy of yours in reception...You think you can fool me!?

Caroline: I wasn't - I wasn't looking at anyone! I promise, Peter. I wouldn't...I would never...

Peter: Don't lie to me! You good for nothing, waste of space! What I believe that you'd keep your promises?

Caroline: ...I'm not like you...

Peter: What the hell is that supposed to mean!?

Caroline: ...The drinking, Peter. You promised me...You promised Mikey! You don't need it...

Peter: Who are you to tell me what I need!?

Peter punches Caroline and she falls to the floor. He takes a hipflask from his pocket, taking a long swig as he leaves the room, pushing past Mikey and knocking him to the floor. Mikey staggers to his feet and backs out of the room.


(Later)


Mikey: Mum? ...Mum?

Mikey slowly opens the door to their room. He see's Caroline's feet dangling above the ground. She has hung herself. The camera switches to show Mikey with Gabriel standing behind him.

Gabriel: Don't worry, Mikey. I'm here now.


(Outside the hotel - Mikey & Friends.)

Mikey, Jennifer, Scarlet and Robbie are all in the car. The radio is on and they are chatting happily. There is a happy, excited atmosphere. This carries on as they unload and leave the car. No one notices Gabriel.




Filming Schedule.

Long shot of the Tiplker's car driving down the lane, camera follows the car round - 8 seconds.

Close-up zooming into an extreme close-up of Peter dragging Mikey from the car - 1 - 2 seconds.

Low angle shot of the hotel, the camera slowly tilts back - 1 - 2 seconds.

Long shot of Mr&Mrs Tipler walking in to the hotel. The camera zooms out to show Mikey running after them - 9 seconds.

Black scene - 2 seconds.

Over-the-shoulder mid-shot of Mr&Mrs Tipler arguing with Mikey watching. Zooms in to a close-up of the arguing parents. - 4 - 5 seconds.

Low angle, mid-shot, tracking shot of Peter Tipler. The camera tilts to the side as Mikey is pushed over then straightens to watch as Peter walks out of the room - 9 seconds.

High angle shot of Caroline Tipler crying on the floor . Zooms out to an over-the-shoulder shot including Mikey - 6 seconds.

Over-the-shoulder shot of Mikey opening the door to the family's room - 1 - 2 seconds.

Mid-shot of Mikey's reaction. Camera zooms out to another over-the-shoulder shot from behind Mikey to show Caroline's feet dangling in the air - 5 - 6 seconds.

Close-up two-shot of Mikey and Gabriel - 2 seconds.

Close-up two-shot of older Mikey and Gabriel - 2 seconds.

Low angle long shot of the hotel - 2 seconds.

Long shot of Mikey and the group getting out of the car - 2- 3 seconds.

Long, high angle shot from hotel window of the group - 2 - 3 seconds.



Prop List.

2 cars.

Vodka bottle/hipflask.

Costumes:
Peter Tipler - Suit, shirt, tie.
Caroline Tipler - Skirt/Dress.
Little Mikey - Jeans, shirt.
Gabriel - Dark jeans, dark shirt.
Mikey - plain jeans and t-shirt.
Robbie - jeans, tracksuit top, trainers.
Scarlett - short skirt, top, heels.
Jennifer - Jeans, t-shirt, pastel colours.

Suitcases.