Question 7 – Looking back at your Preliminary Task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progress from it to the full product?

I started off Media Studies AS with a limited knowledge of how to make films, edit them and then promote them. But since learning key terms, conventions of Thriller and other types of film, my horizons have been broadened and I can now distinguish film genres by watching them and analysing their key components.

Once making our Prelim, we came across some issues that were brought up during a pitch made to our fellow class mates. It was decided that there had been an excess of footage of Callum walking up stairs and through corridors, and that once he sat down to talk with myself, there was no ‘real’ storyline. 
We addressed this by planning our Thriller Opening to have a maximum of two characters from very different backgrounds that have been entangled with each other’s lives, as a desperate cop tries to solve a case involving the convict. The two characters remain fairly stationary through-out the Opening, with their words speaking a lot louder than actions; the only exception being the at the very end.

Continuity was a big factor in our Thriller Opening, where we had to make sure that if something happened, the following shot would start with that action, and end on a different one. Getting a clean cut was something we tried very hard to achieve through-out the Opening, and we believe we have in fact achieved, just that. This we done through maximising the size of the clip we could edit (without changing its technical properties) and shortening the clip so that we could eliminate any unwanted diegetic sounds, like laughter, sniffling and other un-needed sounds. The same for any unwanted facial expressions, like smiling when about to film a serious scene.

Different Shot Types were another large factor that helped us achieve a good continuity. With the continuous conversation between the Detective and the Convict, a varied range of shots had to be used, including: shot-reverse-shot, match-on-action, not breaking the 180° rule, high and low angle shots...etc.

The two above shots are demonstrations of Shot-Reverse-Shot and also High and Low Angle Shots. The 180° rule is not broken here. The left shot looks up towards me and it is taken from Lewis’ left shoulder. The shot on the right is taken from my right shoulder, looking down at Lewis. This is done so that it looks more like convocation, and if the right shot was taken from my left shoulder, it would confuse the audience, and hence the 180° rule.

I believe that the Thriller that I, Callum Cole and Lewis Hamilton have produced stays true to the Thriller Genre, utilising all of its conventions.

We found some areas where there were laughter or sniggering noises in the background, we went back and editing some of the sound to correct this mistake. Also we had some constructive criticism that it would be better the move the title sequence to the end as well, for an added impact as the Thriller Opening closes.

Question 6 – What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before beginning Media Studies, I didn’t know anything about how to effectively record, film and edit. By learning to use a variety of shot types, including: shot-reverse-shot, match-on-action, long shot, mid shot, close-up...etc, and using editing skills to my advantage, such as: changing and making transitions, cropping and ordering sound/video clips...etc, I have successfully produced a Preliminary Video and Final Thriller Opening, using all the skills I have learned.

High and Low Angle Shot types were used in our Thriller Opening. The Low Angle Shots were looking up towards myself, to show my character (the Detective) as powerful and ‘in-control’. Where-as the Low Angle were aimed down at Lewis’ character (the Convict) to show that he is restrained and unable to move, this of-course is done to stay true to the storyline.

Transitions were added in certain places to keep a continuous flow through-out the Opening, therefore building up tension while events took place in the actual Thriller. We specifically used black-to-black or black-to-white fade-out transitions because we believed they looked simple, but effective and not too elaborate as others we felt that this would draw the audience’s attention away from the actual Opening, and more onto the effects and transitions that we used.

We used a black-and-white filter on our whole Thriller Opening, as we thought that it looks more like an old Mafia type film. This is to also give the audience something to think about while watching, as in Mafia films; there is often blood due to gun wounds and such, where the editors will add a black-and-white filter to take the bloods harsh red colouring away.

This is something similar to what we did in our Thriller. Although there is no actual blood shown, however a trigger nearly is pulled and a gun is potentially fired, resulting in a lot of blood which the audience would be exposed to. The black-and-white filter gets rid of this problem, where the audience may become uninterested in the film because they either do not enjoy blood and gore, or they simply have not found to pretend blood to seem real.

We used a tri-pod during our Thriller Opening to keep the camera steady, so that we could effectively film our different scenes. Without it we couldn’t have successfully acquired the shots that we did; as it steadied the camera and allowed us to controllably adjust shots to be suit what we needed. The tri-pod has many features on it which allow us to: alter the height of the camera, tilt the camera and pan with the camera at different speeds.

The tri-pod was possibly the most important piece of equipment that we used while making our Thriller.

iMovie was our main software aid. It served as our editing and construction tool for our Thriller; allowing us to crop, add effects and music soundtracks. We used it to actually piece together our Opening from just bits of camera footage we had taken; placing them in the correct order with different effects that enhanced the experience of watching our Thriller, and over-all conjured our final product.

Question 4 – Who would be the audience for your Media Product?

The audience of our Thriller Opening would be people in the age ranges 15 – 20 and 30 – 50. I believe these age ranges are appropriate as Teenagers normally find Detective-Murder type films/shows interesting, and people aged 30 – 50 quite often watch TV between 7(pm) and 10(pm), as they will probably be arriving home from work at about 6pm and begin to settle down and watch TV at about 7pm-ish.

This Film could possibly be made into a TV Series, which would be broadcasted every week for maybe 6 or 7 weeks running. This would add to the audience size as it can be watched from the comfort their home, rather than making a journey to a Cinema to watch a 1hr30mins or 2hrs film.

I think that males and females would both find the Thriller enjoyable, as men would enjoy the plot and action of the film, where-as women would possibly find more interest in the story and character’s more than an action-sequence.

This is typical Thriller Film watcher; Rhys Hill. He is of the age 16 and enjoys watching Thrillers.

Rhys expects to be thrown into the story of the Film from the start to ensure that he remains interested. However, he does not like to know who the ‘villain’ is straight away, making him constantly suspicious of the characters in the film.

After handing a Questionnaire out to the target audience of our Thriller, we received a range of results, shown below.

Question 3 – What kind of Media Institution might distribute your Media Product and why?

Paramount Vantage is a section of the company Paramount that deals with mainly Thriller and Horror genre films. Paramount is a large company; therefore they are mostly likely to advertise a Film such as this to a much larger audience.

This company produces and distributes films, many of these along with Miramax Films. Paramount Vantage has produced many Thriller films, such as: No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The film No Country For Old Men is a great film to base my own thriller opening on, considering that throughout, the film is based in a desolate place. The film opening I wish to portray is one set in a quiet, lonely place to give an extra sense that the victims are alone and helpless. This makes Paramount Vantage a great choice of companies to produce and distribute our Thriller Opening. They have also produced films such as: Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Shutter Island, Ironman and Ironman 2.

Question 2 – How does your Media Product represent particular Social Groups?

Our Thriller Opening is a detective, murder-mystery sub-genre thriller, therefore we have a certain demographic to aim towards and meet. The age groups of people that would more-likely be watching our Thriller Opening are people aged in the ranges of 15 - 20 and 30 – 50. I have chosen the range 15 – 20 because I believe ‘if’ our Opening was to be made a full film, that it would be of a 15 certificate by the BBFC; but I have chosen the age of 20 as the upper boundary as normally people of age 20 – 30 do not have the time to watch TV shows and films as they are busy with work and etc. My main decision for choosing the age certificate 15 is because this Thriller is dark, contains mild violence and would possibly have a typical female murder scene, similar to Jagged Edge and Psycho, which would show sexual images that would be unsuitable for anyone younger than 15.

I have secondly chosen people of ages 30 – 50 as these are commonly the age of people to be watching Murder-Mystery type films. This age bracket includes House-Wives, who are among the most probable to watch Detective films, like; Sherlock and Luther (both are currently running on TV).

In our Thriller there are no females, therefore this film shows main conventions that it could be a Mafia film. Women appear in Mafia films as the typical housewife normally always wearing an apron and constantly cleaning or cooking food. But they mainly revolve around men. Two forms of men are shown, however, throughout our Opening: the powerful Detective, and the low-life Criminal.

These two men are in their late 30’s, this is because we didn’t want to make them old, and being in their 30’s means that  the audience can relate to the characters more, as they are mostly likely to be of the same sort of age.

As mentioned previously, our camera work was specifically designed to show the two characters in different ways. The Interrogator is meant to be shown as the source of power and justice, but at the same time he is to be shown in the darkness, almost like a shaded character. The Convict is meant to be shown as powerless and weak throughout the Opening. This is because he is bound to a chair by rope and he is under Interrogation by the Interrogator.

Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A Thriller is a Film that incorporates many different conventions and ideas, which overall create an eerie atmosphere and a sense of mystery, a few examples are: the characters and the aura about them, music/sound and cliff-hangers.

Shot types are also a key part of making an effective Thriller film. High and low angle shots can create varied effects about the characters shown in these different ways, for example; a low angle shot can show fear, cowardice, and unimportance, whereas a high angle shot can show authority, important and power etc, these camera techniques can also be used to represent Hero’s and Villain’s in films. Both these types of camera shot were used in our Thriller Opening, to portray the explained effects; where I was shown to be powerful, and Lewis was shown to be less powerful.

The two above shots are screen-grabs from our Thriller Opening. The left shot shows Toby as powerful and he appears to be in-control as he is shown to be taller and therefore suggesting he is more important. The shot on the right is a high angle shot that shows the opposite of the one on the left. It shows Lewis to be over-powered, and shorter, therefore weaker.

In a scene from ‘I Am Legend’ there is a car driving through a city street, where the camera is angled to look down at the car, to make the rest of the scenery (the city block and buildings) look so much more massive and intimidating.

Sound and music can also be a very important feature in a Thriller, when a character does something or performs an action, this can be backed-up by a sound or piece of music to emphasise the effect it creates. In the shower murder scene from ‘Psycho’ this is used to emphasise the stabbing of the knife. Sharp and harsh high pitched sounds are heard to make the audience fully feel the pain along with the victim; expect the same effect is created through sound, not physical actions.

In our Thriller Opening, we used the same sort of sound to products the explained effects. We used eyrie sound effects and a short sound file we found on the Apple Macs. These added atmosphere to the final product, and I feel it makes the Opening a lot more enjoyable than if there was no background sound-track.

Mise-en-scene is another very important part of Thrillers. It can be used to suggest certain things about and area or environment that is featured in the film. Throughout our Thriller Opening we placed certain objects in the background to purposely create different effects and auras. We placed a few gardening tools like; a pickaxe, a sledgehammer, a pair of shears...etc, to create a more menacing atmosphere about the filming set, rather than just a plain, boring shed. I also feel that the shed is a much more suitable location for an ‘off-beat’ high tension thriller, as it’s not a usual place to film a movie: it’s very grubby and involves the audience a lot more as a result of the close-ups and tight filming space.

We used some props in our Opening that we felt added a better atmosphere, as to make it feel more like an Interrogation or an Investigative type movie. The document that Toby shows Lewis was added because it looks like an actually report that an Investigator would possibly use, and that  same sort of document is seen in many different Thriller Films such as Se7en, so therefore I believe it follows these conventions.

The lighting used in our was special designed and angled to only show certain key features and leave others in a more shadowy light. For example, we angled the light towards Lewis, to show his face more clearly than Toby’s, this was because we wanted to make Toby seem like a shrouded character.

 In the ‘Psycho’ shower scene, the bathroom is the main mise-en-scene feature at the time; as it shows that horrible things can in-fact happen (in this case a murder) in the places we think are our safest.

Question 5 - How did you address/attract your audience?

This is a Voice-Over Response to Question 5, that we created over the top of our Thriller Opening. We refere to our Opening, by addressing the editing techniques, camera techniques and much more.

This is the Script for the above video:



"In our questionnaire we got feedback saying that a typical thriller should be filmed in a dark and secluded place, this is why we picked this location."

"We picked a location that was dark, however it wasn't as dark as we expected it to be, this why we used a black and white transition over it."

"We also got feedback from our questionnaires saying that our thriller opening should be thrilling and dramatic from the start."

"This is why we opened our thriller with the torture scene with the bucket of water, this is because it makes the audience want to watch on."

"Our audience suggested that an isolated location should best suit our thriller opening because it creates an eyrie atmosphere and tension because it is an unknown setting."

"The location that we chose was a garden shed because it is small and isolated from the outside world. The shed could be anywhere."

"The outfits used in the opening reflect the roles of the characters they are playing."

"The convict is dressed in casual wear showing that he has been caught unaware, whereas the cop is wearing formal wear which shows that he is organised and prepared for the situation."

This also shows that he is in control and the powerful character in the scene. The convict lies at his mercy.

"We placed tools in the scene which would specifically trigger reactions that will assume that something bad could happen."

"They were placed in this scene because it shows that it is a working environment every day garden tools could quite easily be used in the wrong way."

"We added them to the background because without them we thought that the setting would be bare."

Question 4 - Interview with Kingston Capes

This is an Interview Response to Question 4 with the lovable Kingston Capes, giving us his opinion on our Thriller Opening, he gives us feedbck and suggestions on how to improve.



Question 4 - Interview with Joe James

This is an Interview Response with Joe James, he gives us feedback on our Thriller Opening.

Thriller Opening

Preliminary Task

Analysis of I Am Legend

Shot 1

This screen shows the preparation the character has made. The camera angle perfectly captures the vast amount of food in the area. It is a medium camera shot showing only down to the person’s waist. The kitchen is lit via natural light from the window, with shadows from the sun peeking through the window. Sounds of a TV in the background can be heard, as well as the character putting away cups and other food and drink utensils, therefore all the sound in the shot is diagetic. 

Shot 2

This screen shows the devastation after the character has killed his dog, because of an illness. The camera angle is a long shot, showing the main characters whole body. The lighting is dim with computer monitors projecting faint blue lights on surfaces. With the main plot of the film being that Will Smith is the last human survivor in Manhattan, I believe that this screen really emphases that, being as his companion has just died. As he looks up, I believe the feeling and mood of loneliness is increased.

Shot 3

This screen portrays a scientist of sorts testing on a patient. The surrounding area appears to be a laboratory with specialist equipment scattered around.  Sounds that can be heard are the beeping of a heart-monitoring machine and the tapping of tools on metal surfaces, as well as the scientist documenting what he has found regarding the patient. The camera angle is medium, showing only the torso-up of the character. The lighting is very dim, the brightest areas being on the scientist’s lab coat.

Shot 4

This last screen shows the scale of destruction cases by the illness/virus. There are almost no sounds in the area showing how alone the character is and how empty and desolate the city has become. There is emphasis on this by the fact that his vehicle is the only vehicle in the shot. The camera angle and shot is long to give a larger sense of scale of the buildings. With the light only emerging in the distance, there is little light in the street.

Rationale Behind Our Idea

From the start of Media Studies this year, we as a group have wanted to create a sense of loneliness and fear through our intended Thriller Opening. Our first idea was to create a post-apocalyptic setting in which we could incorporate a threat similar to ‘Zombies’. This was soon cut as an idea when we performed our pitch to the rest of our class, as we realised that it would take a lot of effort and time to literally piece together a post-apocalyptic, destroyed-city type area in which we would film. One of our other pitch ideas was a simple, yet effective take on an interrogation scene.  It started as just an idea to flesh-out our pitch, but it then became our final idea when we were given some constructive feedback on how to effectively pull-off this newly found idea. Many people said we should look to film this sort of thing in a dark, secluded place away from the hustle and bustle of natural and man-made life. After we had set on our storyline and plot we sent out questionnaires looking for more ideas and feedback to fill in the cracks on our Thriller Movie Opening.

Some of our key findings are listed below:

•  Approximately 85% of the people we gave questionnaires, said they actually enjoy watching Thriller Films regularly.
• Here are some Key features that people suggested we include:
• Blood
• Screaming
• Introduction to main characters
• Evidence of a crime
• Gripping storyline, to keep the audience enticed
• Violence
• Dismembered body parts
• Guts
• Good introduction to the story from the opening
• Interrogation
• Here are some ideas for Locations to film at/from:
• A desolate suburban area
• Dark, secluded places
• Anywhere that feels isolated
• Abandoned buildings and streets
• Alleyways
• Some Key Lighting Techniques to use:
• Film Noire (BLack and White)
• Dim, with some rays of light, to creat a sense of being traooed
• Shadows, and/or shadowy figures
• Flashing or Strobe Lights
• A single bulb hanging in the middle of the room, the only source of light
• Dramatic sharp tones
• Low tones in the background (under-the-radar)
• Gloom/gloomy
• Intimidating bright lights

These results have helped us to refine our Thriller Opening and it now hopefully appeals to more people, having included many of the suggested ideas.

We have incorporated many of the conventions typically found in a Thriller film as to hopefully make our opening as much like a real Thriller as possible. One of the conventions we have followed is to create a strange and sometimes scary and horrific aura about the characters in the opening. The character portrayed by Toby Phillips is meant to be a Cop or Detective, that has been removed from a case as his Agency have deemed the case as a waste of time. However, the Detective has continued the case in his own time to uncover the mystery.

Here are a few Key Features we wanted the Detective to have:

• Intelligence - The character is a Detective, therefore he should be very intelligent and a quick thinker.
• A Sense of 'Right' and 'Wrong' - A Detective works for the Police Force or an Agency, therefore at the forefront of what happens in the Country, so he should be a very moral citizen.
• Determination - The Detective, despite being discharged from the case, continues to find sufficient evidence to resolve the case.

Audience Research

Before we decided what thriller opening we were going to film we created a questionnaire and handed it out to students in our school so that we can get a good idea of what they think of thriller movies and what features should be included.

The feedback from the questionnaires will give us an insight into what features people are expecting to see in a thriller film. This gives us an advantage because it allows us to tweak our production so that we can accompany the newly explored suggestions proposed by our feedback. For example; if multiple people have suggested the same thing, then it would be in our best interest to incorporate these ideas into our Thriller Opening.