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

In the progression of learning about various thriller conventions, I have gained more knowledge on what it takes to fit the demographic of a "thriller" where as previously I thought it was souley down to the plotline I now understand from not only my target research but from class that it's to do with creating suspense and mystery through camera shots and angles. Our media opening wouldn't have been a success if it wasn't for those key shots that emphasised a scene e.g Ellke being pushed near stairs. During our filming we were also unaware of the idea that clothing could give a certain image to the audience. For example the idea of Lucas character just wearing socks in the house wouldn't be as effective if he had been perhaps barefoot due to him dressing then slightly more different then Ellie. Soundtracks are also important I learnt when trying to convey a mystery and build suspense - this is one of the key things we found difficult when trying to find a soundtrack that matched to how the scene went - instead of going on in with a harsh and dominant sound effect,though market research, we found that it would be better to do a build up that gradually became louder. This technique had previously used in films such as Gone Girl.

In our preliminary task we showed little to no mise-en-scene as at that time of filming we didn't realise how important things such as costume would make a difference. One of the big things that have changed is the use of our narrative as within our pre-lim the sound was very on and off as we only thought to use over the top sound effects rather than a slow build up. Additionally the use of props has dramatically changed as when filming our pre-lim we had zero props and didn't think through previously on how when filming and editing the shots it wouldn't leak clean cut. Comparing to now I believe our media work has vastly improved because of the new skills we have learnt that have allowed us to adapt to how we would like our work and although the progression of our work will continue we believe we have extremely changed from our first task. My personal editing skills have dramatically improved as now I know what to spot in order to create my work more clear to the audience as before I tend to focus on the final product rather then focusimg on every small detail to make a good final product. Our film pitch/ideas, planning and themes were overall more consistent this time around in making the final product more of a success when distributing.

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

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

In order to edit and peice our media thriller opening together we used the latest version of IMovie which could be found on the IMacs, this updated version allowed us to edit our varied shots to our preference, added visual effects, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds and crop particular shots. Additionally we used the effect to stabilise our shots which was extremely helpful when shots were very shaky due to the weather conditions. Everyone in our group contributed to editing im there own way and were able to bring a range of skills to everything they did, however June was our main editor as she felt more confident when it came to her editing because of previous knowledge on how to do it. I personally learnt how to crop and rearrange the different layers of sound, this has personally helped me and so in future projects these knew skills will be used. I also learnt how to lighten and darken different shofs to create an overall effect on our shots to add some dimension. Additionally I've learnt that by speeding up the flashbacks at a quick pace it helps to create a mystery and the fast paced thriller shots that people seemed to enjoy  In terms of camera skills I have learnt how to focus and film various shots that help captivate a sense of a thriller genre by using shots such as pans and tracking shots.

In conclusion I have learnt a collective of technology and skills that have allowed me to create a thriller product that I believe could become successful due to the range of different technology's I have used to help construct my product.

How did you attract and address your audience?

 How did you attract and address your audience?

As a group addressing our target audience of 16-24 year olds by casting two teenagers as the main characters was a priority because they are able to relate due to similar ages, locations and social status. Mise-en-Scene is an important factor when trying to attract our audience (16-24 year olds) as we wanted to to influence the audience. The variation of products such as fake blood, pills and overall scenery eg the graveyard & household all contributed when needing to convey to the audience our thrilled opening. Our audience could be attracted to the location as these are common places in which  could relate to our age group e.g the household. By using this juxtaposition it shows an area in which likelihood should be safe and comforting contrasting to the supposedly eerie graveyard, the shots from the graveyard make up the majority of our thriller opening as it represents darkness therefore attracting a more mysterious take on our adaptation of a thriller. The abuse flashbacks additionally could also attract young couples as they are the maim demographic for real life statistics of domestic abuse by a partner this gives a sense of awareness to the topic that is not recognised a lot in real life situations. Furthermore the use of age relativity will really attract our audience as we as a group are hitting our own demographic therefore understanding what people our age age would expect to see in a thriller with psychological elements. I personally believe teenagers and young adults are more inclined to see this thriller is to how relatable the characters appear and although there is domestic violence and mental health problems that they are still young adults figuring themselves out. The use of age related characters/actors additionally emphasis my point as if we're to use older actors that the plot line wouldn't appear right and the target audience wouldn't be able to relate.

A crucial part to our research before filming our thriller opening was to attract a wide range of audiences and demographics whilst still being able to attract 16-24 years olds. By attracting our audience with a range of demographics such as gender and hierarchy - especially in our female detective - not only would this correlate to our main age focus but also those who were middle aged and older. We have displayed our females detectives status of authority by placing her in what seems like a white room surrounded by evidence against Lucy's character, the use of a female trying to catch a man suggests she has not only high authority but social class. Her character juxtaposes Ellie's character who the audience will pity and sympathise with, we managed to portray these two very different female characters by using a majority of high angle shots of Lucy and low angle shots of Ellie.

Although we used a variety of different medias to bring the attention of our thriller opening we found that the use of various social media platforms worked best as you knew you would be hitting your demographic straight away as our whole group used personal social medias to distribute our product. This was a pro decision as we knew by doing this not only would a mass of people would see it but we would be hitting our key demographic. Also the use of above line marketing such as YouTube itself wouldn't of allowed us to show our thriller opening whilst gaining views if it wasn't for using it. Attracting our audiences attention through social medias consisted of our group constantly retweetimg one another's tweets by doing this it expanded our demographic through new people, by using simple links that our audience could click on allowed it to be easier than ever for them to know what our thriller was about but also allowed us to know people were viewing it because of views and page activity. Lastly by leaving comments under our thriller opening we would later know what people liked and disliked which would help us later on in other projects such as our Year 13 work, this links to wanting what people would like to see as if there pervious videos our aud ience had watched matched the genre of our thriller opening it would be found in there suggestions/recommendations. This is otherwise known as the Hypderdemic Syringe Model - a theory based in media implying certain medias are purposely "injected" into our audiences to show them what they want to see the most of.

                     
       

Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

Prior to filming our thriller opening our group did exstensive research into what our target audience, 16-24 year olds, would expect when watching a thriller film and the stereotypes they expect to see. Upon researching I found a statistic claiming 16-24 year olds are one of the largest age groups to suffer with mental health issues. By using someone of this age not only does it show the demographic that relates to the statistics in relation to promoting these mental disorders but also the age range could appear as though we can correlate with a young teen audience. In my research which I collected through an internet survey I found that a significant amount of our audience would want to watch a thriller that mentioned/discussed mental health, due to the majority of previous films have spoken falsely or they mis-interpreted how someone with the condition might act. I also felt it was right to speak about mental health issues being apart of the death because of the stigma that surrounds Schizophrenia such as the lack of empathy, it is made clear in the narrative that he does feel sympathy but yet is unaware of how to convey his emotions to others. Lastly I found through research that the majority of our audience watched thriller films through streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime closely followed by just watching in the cinema. By using a service such as Netflix it would mean using a cross- media convergence to achieve a synergy - this is when a cross media convergence is successful.

In relation to gender, making sure that our media was targeting both females and males was pinnacle as our plot of the film was based on the audience being unbiased.  The main topic of our film is neutral as it can be subjected towards male and females because the plot surrounds mental health issues which are experienced by both genders. The physical violence in our media could appeal to men and the domestic abuse could appeal to women, due to statistics of domestic abuse being higher in women than in men. As for males although the rates of them abusing there partner is higher (29%) the rate of suicide is more prominent with men suffering mental health issues at 76% causing suicide to being the biggest threat towards men, figures are currently highest they've ever been. By making our thriller opening we hope to ensure to highlight the key aspects of suffering with Schizophrenia to highlight that the stigmas surrounding this issue are not true.

With regards to various social classes we have explored a variety of ways to indicate to the audience that this is thriller opening is something you can relate to therefore making it appear more scary in the long run because of the likeliness of something like this happening. The main characters that are seen in the duration of our opening can quite clearly seen as average stereotypical teenagers. By the setting and the costume the audience can already understand that this is supposed to relate to day to day life due to them being dressed in very ordinary clothes. Additionally the use of them not wearing bold colours and not being dressed up indicates a middle class/ working class lifestyle. However a clear juxtaposition can be seen when we introduce Lucy's character who plays the female detective at the end because of her Lanyard seen around her neck creating the illusion that if she's wearing her job may be important. Also the use of wearing navy could symbolise stereotypical hierarchy jobs such as the police. Lastly the mise-en-scene where Lucy's character is already suggests she may be working for a hierarchy job because of the scattered candid shots of Lucas and recent newspaper articles surrounding a previous case.

Additional Research consisted of myself an my media group getting our class and peers to watch the opening to see what the initial reaction to the editing of the shots to see if the understood the plotline. The majority were able to understand that there was a previous altercation (flashbacks) that may or may have not led the female character to die. However without the running narrative within the soundtrack they wouldn't have understood he had problems. There are some pros to this piece of criticism as we tried to make Lucas appear as normal as possible so that the audience would be shocked to find out he had a mental health issue - the added touching of the face and constant hand trembling was also an addition to help them understand. A film I have been focusing on during my media research is We Need to Talk about Kevin'.This is just one of the films I chose to look at as of me previously watching was intrigued by the idea of this boy having a clear problem coping and also being a teenager. The use of the colour red throughout the film Is what I was captivated by because of how they managed to subliminally use it to predict the outcome otherwise known as pathetic fallacy.These dark themes such as death an mental health issues are often not spoken about as people with the condition either feel embarrassed to speak about it or society doesn't want to know.

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

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

We chose two big conglomerate companies Universal and Lionsgate to distribute our media opening due to them being extremely triumphant with a large net worth of $4 billion. Universal is also one of the top 3 conglomerate companies to produce successful synergies, Universal is also known for producing some of the best thrillers for example Psycho, To Kill a Mockingbird and Jaws. One of the most recent thriller films distributed by Universal Studios is 'Split' - a film about a man that suffers with 23 personalities who kidnaps 3 girls. Due to the film company dominating the film industry, the marketing money is spent on making sure the film is being mentioned everywhere they can do this as they afford it (this is usually done through the actors themselves promoting the film and social media pages being made for the film - otherwise known as a cross media convergence.)

Music Institutions could also consider distributing our thriller opening because by doing so this would be a cross-media convergence, this is when two different types of media join together in a synergy to promote the two media's trying to be sold. Take the film "Fifty Shades of Grey" the film had many expectations after becoming a best selling book in 2011, the adaptation which was later released 2015 was the most anticipated film of the year but what was more anticipated was the soundtrack - two of the most profound songs from the album was 'Love Me Like You Do' by Ellie Goulding and 'Earned It' by The Weeknd, these songs created a synergy between universal studios and productions therefore causing both the film and soundtrack to become more successful.Like in the film, the use of a original soundtrack emphasised the hype surrounding the films credibility. Another way film can be linked to the music distribution is Music Videos, in both videos references and clips from the film are interspersed therefore allowing Ellie Goulding and The Weeknd fans to not only watch the film but buy the soundtrack.

Lastly Social Media institutions would distribute our thriller opening through popular social media's such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Because of the globlisation that social media's have become in the past decade we are now able to promote products quickly through adverts. It is beneficial to promote through social media as by doing this it creates page activity and viewers,for example a twitter page being made for a new film could create a hash tag that there audience could use to interact therefore showing distribution companies how well a film is doing. Additionally as social media is  broad you cater to all class, age groups and cultural backgrounds which is a pro when needing to hit a large demographic. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Throughout our thriller opening we cover the issue of grief, young adults, those who suffer with mental disorders and class. We wanted to make sure that we kept everything politically correct to ensure that what we were trying to convey was not offensive to viewers.The central topic of our work is Schizophrenia, by creating an accurate representation of young people suffering with this disorder we wanted to shed light on the fact not all previous depictions in previous films was true e.g sadistic, ignorant , lack of guilt and aggressive behaviour which similarly is linked to those who are Psychopaths. Prior to picking a disorder to focus on we looked at what was common within people of our own age (16-17) and found out that it was most common within people who are late teenagers and men.Although only 1% of a population has Schizophrenia over 250,000 cases in Britain since 2015 have been diagnosed. We wanted to give an indication to the audience that Lucas's character had a disorder of some sort by making him appear slightly restless and fidgeting. Lucas's exterior is presented as ordinary and almost relatable to the audience whilst the narrative and the make-up surrounding his eyes suggest something isn't normal leaving the audience to speculate. As well as this we made sure that Lucas lacked any empathy or remorse whilst visiting the grave to show that the way he is feeling is more intricate than to do with his disorder and the his lack of emotion is to do with how he is as a person. During the flashbacks a high angle shot of Lucas can be seen holding Ellie by the neck and almost "telling her off" displaying his immense frustration towards her, this reinforces the damsel in distress stereotype. 
Although he has the vulnerability of someone weaker his physicality gives him an advantage. Similarly our group took inspiration of this twist from the psychological thriller "Black Swan" - in which a women has an array of mental disorders that slowly begin to take over making her increasingly more vulnerable.

Consequently we have portrayed both males and females within our opening as a social group. As Lucas is the only male to feature in our opening it suggests to the audience he is perhaps a dominant figure however as the narrative beings you learn he is in fragile state due to being haunted by what happened on the night of Ellie's murder. The use of a button up shirt suggests he is  dressed smart casual showing he's put effort into his appearance to visit Ellie however the dark colour paired with dark jeans reflects his dominance of a male and his feelings towards Ellie. Lucas's role as the antagonist is unknown until the flashbacks  show him using his physicality to overpower and treat harshly. It is estimated that 70 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical violence in there lifetime. Portraying Lucas strong and aggressive reinforces Ellie being submissive. The use of camera angles also creates the illusion he's towering over whilst constantly belittling her character. Although both male and female characters in our media opening are presented as emotionally damaged and weaker, closer to the end of of our opening a female detective Lucy, can be seen analysing the case and growing frustrated at finding out what happened to Ellie.

By using a dominant female it goes against the stereotype as for the majority males are used and as although Lucy's a female she still retains a high social status due to her occupation which gives her authority. This similar use of female authority can be seen in the interrogation scene where Detective Rhonda Bhoney can be seen asking meticulous questions to see if Nick knows anything about his wife.


With regard to class, we have shown only two versions in which the two main characters are off a lower social class to our detective because of the authority and mental stability to complete her job.The ring seen on Lucy's middle finger could show the idea of her being financially stable yet and not married, indicating she's more focused on her job. This contrasts to Ellie and Lucas as both can be seen in dark clothing and no ring's showing they are perhaps less financially capable therefore leaving the audience to suggest the reason they are fighting is because of money troubles.

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

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

We have challenged conventions of a typical thriller by incorporating aspects of our sub-genre which is psychological thriller. Before even beginning to film for our thriller opening we did a lot of extensive research on various popular psychological thrillers such as Black Swan,The Silence of the Lamb and Gone Girl. We were heavily influenced by the idea of creating a character where the audience were apprehensive on how to feel about him. Lucas's character is portrayed as a grieving boyfriend in the first couple of seconds but as you see the flashbacks it switches the perspective we have of him. This technique was similarly used in Black Swan where Nina starts of as innocent but progressively becomes more twisted.

As a group we wanted to target a minority in which young people could either relate to or become more educated on as later on in the film we would be divulging more into this issue. The topic of mental illness and schizophrenia in particular has not been covered in many films so to be able to cover is in AS media could educate young people. Typically in films those who suffer with mental illness are presented as weak and the majority are females whereas we have used a male. This is deliberate to show an alternative perspective of those who suffer with mental illnesses. By having the majority of our opening shots in a graveyard it set the ominous effect of our thriller opening this is a juxtaposition to how our main character is feeling due to the death of his girlfriend and his surroundings of death. This is otherwise known as pathetic fallacy. The additional use of flowers/greenery contrasts with the dark location suggesting that life can come after death. Daffodil's are used as a symbolism for rebirth and new beginnings, in the case of our media opening we are unsure if this is a good thing for our male main character. 

The conventions we developed in our media opening were the elements of suspense and apprehension in which following our main male character to a grave that is yet unknown to the audience. We used a narrative to develop our conventions throughout our plot line to give some insight in to why he's visiting a grave and how it links to our thriller. The use of a narrative explores the way he not only is feeling but how much we wanted to do suggesting perhaps he wanted to help but not being able to because of his mental heath and how broken he is. Similarly the use of music conventions add depth and a inquisitive feeling because of the gradual build with it starting mellow following through with a loud ending. Using this type of slow paced soundtrack was befitting for the opening scenes as it matched the mise-en-scene.

Next the use of clothing to show conventions of death and dejection is used to give an obvious way to convey how the characters are feeling. As a group we thought it'd suit best if Lucas's character stuck with wearing dark colours to implicate him as one of the main reasons why someone has died. Also dressing him in black also brings about a presence with him contrasting to the bright flowers and sky. By wearing a black shirt and jeans also gives a casual setting therefore indicating to the audience that the person was laid to rest some time ago. Throughout the flashbacks both characters are dressed in casual dark attire, one of the reasons for this is to enforce the idea that there relationship is broken and figuratively dark.The casualness of the outfits is to normalise there location. This particular camera shot taken from a birds eye view helps execute the fact she is weaker and at a loss of emotion hence matching the tone of the narrative. Ellie's character is dressed similarly to Lucas to show a union within there relationship almost as though they reflected one another at some point. Aforementioned the use of a female convention where the female is weaker and the victim is used show how although Lucas's character, the antagonist, is suffering with a mental disorder he is still at an advantage due to him being a tall male.This particular scene emphasises the damsel in distress stereotype.

Our media opening is heavily influenced by Gone Girl as prior to making our opening we knew we wanted a relationship with the same dynamic in which they had regular arguments to show an unsteady rocky relationship. One part we enjoyed from this film was the fight scene because of the levels the camera managed to capture whilst they argued. You begin to sympathise with Amy but as the scene progresses and she grows more angry it starts turn against the stereotypical quiet female with her even pushing Nick. We took inspiration from the location of the fight as we felt as though it was somewhere a fight could result in Ellie's characters death.

Thriller Opening: Uploaded...

Thriller Opening: Uploaded...

We have uploaded our final thriller opening onto youtube so people are able to watch it and give us criticism and compliments on our work, we hope that by uploading this first piece of proper work that we will show progression in our work and gain even more experience on filming and editing. I have shared the link to our work via all my social medias to get maximum audience reviews.

To watch our final thriller opening;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plE8OpkqcAs

21st March 2017

Today we filmed the last portion of our thriller opening,this consisted of a variety of shots around the crime board and a detective, played by Lucy, pinning the evidence together. The props we used for this scene were placed together carefully bearing in mind that we had a lack of time for our final piece to be uploaded also trying to upload and edit all within the hour. The last 20 seconds of our opening piece together what the final narrative will be about and as to why the focus is on Lucas's character so much. We have worked on these shots since getting constructive criticism from peers and teachers, only when we did intense planning was it easy for us to get the last portion filmed. June had bought the crime board whilst myself and Lucy researched the layouts of a crime board and the different images and evidence are used in traditional crime boards. We drew inspiration from TV shows and real life crime boards for famous investigations. On the crime board can be found notes of the male characters mental state, notes on schizophrenia, letters, maps and observational candid photos of Lucas to suggest the police had been following him for a while.

9th March Filming

Today we filmed the majority of the scenes we had left of the scenes to film as we wanted to film with Lucas however whilst doing this the had  weather deteriorated therefore causing us to re-film the opening sequence as the weather was misty and damp whereas on this day it was sunny. We made sure to practice a few shots beforehand so that we know this would be our last time going to the graveyard as we wanted our remaining time to be focused on editing. Whilst filming we noticed that the lighting was very different to our previous footage so being able to combine the shots would be difficult so we decided to get rid of all of our existing work. This time round we made sure to create a list to follow through so that we wouldn't be wasting time whilst Lucas was filming with us, the collection of shots we managed to film conveyed the amount of tension and suspense we wanted to project to the audience, consequently the shots also had to match well with the soundtrack we have.

The clothing worn by Lucas represents him being a more darker individual and even tho
ugh the audience aren't adhere of this yet they know he isn't yet to be trusted.

New Storyboard.

Plan for Filming;

We plan to film with Lucas at the graveyard on Thursday as this is when we think everyone is free.

Filming at the Graveyard ; 07/03/17

Gender Stereotypes I the Thriller Genre

Gender;

Females in the Thriller genre are often represented using the typical stereotype that they are vulnerable and unable to rely on themselves for safety and protection. Plotlines often feature a female character in jeopardy or in a situation of distress therefore requiring another character to help/save her. 
However contrasting to this often movies in modern cinema try to oppose this representation by featuring an independent strong female character however this is not as frequently used in this genre.

Males within thriller films are often represented as the main protagonist and are for the most part, depicted as dominant within the film narrative. This dominance is mostly portrayed through mental agility and physical strength. This can often be found in scenes within long fight and chase scenes between the males (protagonists) and the antagonist.

Film Overview as of 21st January;

 We have decided to get rid of our previous footage and start again from scratch. We believed as a group it would benefit us if we started with a blank canvas as we grew tired from watching our old work due to it becoming boring the more we watched it. Another teacher also mentioned that our work was starting to look more amateurish and appearing more like a trailer rather than an opening to a film, due to how much of our film was being explained rather than leaving some element of surprise. We have now developed our storyline further by including another character, a private detective, played by Lucy.

As a group we went to our first location which is the Graveyard located in Rainham Town Centre. This was the best location to film our graveyard shots as the location appears quite rustic and heavily shadowed by trees and bushes. We then wanted to choose a plot/grave that was unnamed as this way we would be respecting the area we were around.

We spent roughly 1.5 - 2 hours filming a variety of establishing shots, tilts, high angle to low angle shots and by the end of it had a plethora of shots. Additionally as a group we have decided to wait until our actor, Lucas, is free as this way we will know how to structure the shots around him.  

Thriller Survey

I have created a short survey, to gain more market research on thriller films;

Survey to go towards my market research

Filming - 31st January 2017

31st January 2017;

Today we began filming a section of our opening in which Lucas had a backdrop of a white wall, so the focus would be on what the character displays.Before Lucas came we spent a lot of time on seeing how the camera would adjust when someone was directly in front. Lucy sat on the chair and we worked with the different angles we could possibly use in order to make our work most effective. For the majority of the shots we used the tripod, so the camera could be steady and essentially blur out anything we didn't want. Additionally we switched cameras as the previous one wasn't to the quality we wanted.

June also was able to make the sure the camera was levelled up in the centre by using the tripod. As soon as Lucas arrived, he began recording the new voiceover in which his character begins to have a guilty conscience.

Horror Film Productions [Part 2/2]

Hammer Film Productions;

Hammer Film Productions is a British film production company based in London. Created in 1934, the company is most well known for a series of gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid 1950s till the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fictions, thrillers and comedies. Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due,  to distribution partnerships with major American studios, such as Warner Bros. 

The first series of films created were The Curse of Frankenstein which came out in 1957 with only a budget of £65,000 was capable of making £8 million. The huge box office success of The Curse of Frankenstein led to the inevitable desire for a sequel in The Revenge of Frankenstein. The next film created was Dracula and with a final budget of£81,412 the cinematography began in 1957.The film was then released in 1958 and created a staggering £81,412.

Horror Film Productions [Part 1/2]

Blumhouse Productions;

Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company. It was created by Jason Blum. These productions are known mostly for producing low-budget horror films, such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge and Sinister. The company currently has a 10 year film deal with the conglomerate studio Universal Studios. Since the creation of Blumhouse Productions in 2009, they've created franchises earning them billions of dollars. The first horror film created was Paranormal Activity and on its initial release $193.4 millions.

A-Level Media Studies: The Marksman (A GRADE) - Overview

A-Level Media Studies: The Marksman (A GRADE) - Overview

As a group we decided it would be beneficial to do more extensive research as this would later help us with what shots and themes were being covered in other peoples A Level Media film openings. In the opening I stumbled upon the opening includes a 'siverline' productions and 'an association with E4'. The use of this is effective as it makes the audience find the production more realistic rather than a small a small production. Also the use of being in association with E4 gives an understanding to the audience of what they are to expect as often E4 portray more dramas about gang culture and crime. Thus giving an indication of what themes are to be expected. The titles then transition into a fade showing a high angle shot of two hooded figures on the floor,with one holding a gun. Already the use of a gun in the opening gives an indication of what is too later happen. Additionally in the first opening shot the man on the left hand side appears to be wrapping something the leg suggesting he may have been shot, which is presumed due to a gun, being in the same shot. We then see the injured person hand the gun to the person filming. The audience now perceives this as a documentary due to footage being filmed by the people being involved.

The camera quickly focuses on the gun being held by the person appearing to be filming, abruptly the person appearing to be filming is now holding the gun with two hands and is holding the gun directly in front of the injured person. The audience is to know what to come but are at this point confused to know why. The gun is then fired. Editing has allowed them to re-create a gun fire and blood splat which dramatises the scene.

Film Pitch & Film Overview

We have shown our film pitch to the class in order for them to get an understanding of what our film is about and what will be the main plot. Whilst presenting we explained how we'll have a protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist, Imogen, will be played by Ellie-Spencer Webb and the antagonist, Josh, will be played by Lucas Bowles. We aim to film a psychological thriller opening following the progression of the Joshs' schizophrenia and his relationship with Imogen. We chose this plot line as within psychological thrillers it plays on the mind and is usually links to how sadistic the antagonist is, in addition by bringing awareness to mental illness we plan on showing people the traits shown in people who suffer with schizophrenia mixed with a toxic relationship and how it affects not only Josh but also Imogen.

Additionally whilst presenting our pitch we changed our name to 'side effect' as we all felt it fit the film better for what the thriller was going to in tail. The name of the film also leads to suspicion and apprehension as our target audience may be able to piece together that the title may relate to the mental illness. When choosing a type of mental illness to depict in our opening, we all came together and chose schizophrenia as the traits such as emotional flatness and catatonic behaviour would link to their already broken relationship. Films such as Black Swan, The Shining and Girl, Interrupted shows the majority of traits that we would like to execute.

During our film pitch,we also changed things whilst presenting such as the name of our film. This was changed as peoples feedback claimed they were unsure of what the film was about and why the main male character may be acting the way he is.

Media Set Clips

Take 1 of each shot;

Media Set Pictures

First Stage Editing Sde Effect

On junes blogspot, you will see that we have started our filming process. This was done over a period of a couple of hours and resulted in a lot of filming. Since yesterdays filming we have pieced together the clips and the only footage we deemed good enough equals to 14 seconds,which is an approximately good length as this for our flashback.