MEDIA FILM PROJECT

EVALUATION
By Daniel Ntim-Addae
In what ways does your film challenge forms,
use or develop conventions of real media
products?
The research I have undertaken has displayed that thrillers have are not really a
genre, Martin Rubin who wrote that thrillers are a meta-genre where the other
genres can attach themselves; Rubin called the meta-genre thriller as an umbrella for
other genres to gather under. Despite this I think that all thrillers have a common
thread even though there are so many different types, this common theme runs
through all thrillers irrespective of the type. I believe that all thrillers leave an
audience wanting more and gives off a sense of unease that leaves the audience in
suspense. The Bourne Identity is a film that displays typical conventions of a thriller
film as it incorporates confusion along with an intriguing sense of anticipation. The
film I have produced does exactly the same thing as I think that our film utilizes the
same conventions of your typical thriller by having a apprehensive build-up
followed by fast paced action that the audience may or may not have seen coming.
The film also took a leaf out of The Bourne Identity’s book and used darkness to
further enhance the tension. The film I produced didn’t really challenge the typical
conventions of a thriller but we did have some shots that you wouldn’t normally see
in a thriller such as the one where the car speeds over the camera as that is more of an
action film shot.
 How does your media product represent
particular social groups?

The film we made was aimed at an older audience as there are elements to it that may
seem inappropriate for people of a younger age but the question is asking me how our film
represents particular social groups. My film represents an urban social group as the film
takes place in area where people who live in the city go basically everyday, and the fact
that she gets kidnapped in such a normal area only heightens the fear. As well as the
setting the film in an urban place we also had characters that you would see on the street
and this helped attract our social group as it gave them characters they could identify with
instead of your typical Hollywood superstar, this means that the audience can get more
into the film as they fully identify with the characters and can therefore engage more
enthusiastically with the storyline. North London is a multi ethnic area and we represented
this by having an Iranian lead actor, this multi-ethnic approach is typical of North London
and London as a whole. The fact remains that London is a place where people especially
those coming from other countries believe that they can make something of themselves so
this Iranian girl who has just been kidnapped is a very realistic approach to the London of
today and is representative of what is happening in the world, people trying to make their
lives better. Combining all of these factors I have described above the audience will be
interested in our film as it relates to their everyday lives; the link between our film and
their lives is quite obvious as it is the pure urban setting integrated with our down to earth
characters that will initially attract our audience to the film and the fact that it could
hypothetically happen to anyone of them is the link between our film and our audience.
What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?

As the film we have made is not the size of your typical Hollywood or even Bollywood
released film, I have therefore come the conclusion that we need a distributor that suits our
needs as there is no point employing a big distribution company such as Fox Atomic to
distribute our film. There are many small companies such as Metrodome which could
distribute our film to our audience; I would be more inclined to use Metrodome in the first
place as they are quite experienced when it comes to distributing small films. They are
currently about to release the film Shifty but their more recent release was Mum and Dad
which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, this film only had a budget of around
£100,000 which I have to admit is significantly less than our film so if they did decide to
produce our film then they should have a lot of money left over for promotion. The scale of
distribution will be quite small and probably start at several film festivals such as the one
mentioned above or Wimbledon Shorts 2009 etc. If however our film proves to be
successful at these festivals then I think the time will be prudent to consider several
independent cinemas such as Curzon or Phoenix as they will be an indicator of how well
our film will do in the mainstream audience although it has to be said that the only people
who go to visit independent cinemas are people who want to watch specific films. But
nevertheless, a strong showing here will be the cue for us to maybe consider a larger
distribution company such as Fox Atomic as they will have better expertise when it comes
to releasing national films. Our target audience will be more likely to view our film when it
reaches the national stage and is being shown in multiplexes as I can anticipate that very
few of our target audience will have viewed the film at independent cinemas or at the film
festivals.
Who would be the audience for your media
product?

I decided that this film would be aimed at an over 18 audience as the themes for this
film would be inappropriate for people of a younger age. On the imdb the top 250
films are listed and the top 5 are either drama or thriller associated with another
movie type. So it is established that thrillers are a very popular genre type no matter
what it is combined with, so the audience I am aiming for should have no qualms
about the film I have made. But an even more encouraging sign is that The Dark
Knight, a film that was released only last year is placed at number 6, and that too is a
thriller film albeit one with a massive budget and basically a year of promotion.
Therefore there is hope that my film although won’t be on that list of top 250 movies,
will be successful as just the genre type alone is popular so my film should attract the
audience I am aiming for. Right now in the US box office, there are 2 thriller movies
in the top 10 and justify my claims that audiences are interested in the thriller genre
and demonstrate that audiences still want to be confused and held in suspense. The
UK box office is also displaying the same trends as the top film is State of Play
another thriller film so it seems that the 18-35 audience I am aiming for is still
interested in thrillers and that is good news for me.
How did you attract/address your audience?

As my film is a small one I cannot employ the same ways of attracting audiences as
Hollywood thrillers such as The Dark knight or State of Play but I think I will use the
same strategy as Shifty which has got a few posters placed in strategic positions as
well as it’s own official site where the film synopsis is as well as clips of the film.
They also have this ingenious section where if you have a problem with a friend you
can set them up in a position they don’t want to be in, this has a big relation to the
film as Shifty I think gets set up in the film. I think that if I went with the same
approach it would beneficial to my film as like Shifty I don’t have a massive budget
but the problem with Shifty’s approach is that they need a way to get the film more
heard about as I didn’t hear about the film until recently. So I need to develop a way
to get my audience to hear about my film and then get start figuring out an
innovative way to get my film out to the audience but in a cost effective fashion.
What I am thinking is that maybe I can utilize the growing media types and maybe
advertise my film on facebook or any other social networking groups as a lot of
people are on these sites so it is the perfect way for me to get my film out to my
audience in a way that is cost effective . Another point to consider is the fact that
because the thriller genre is so popular there is a risk my film won’t reach my target
audience so I have to find a unique way to attract my audience and I think the way to
do this is to make a site where people sign up to be part of the film and then at any
moment in their lives they could get kidnapped like in the opening of the film and
then given a place where they could go and watch the film.
What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing the product?

What have I learnt, good question. The main thing I learnt when filming this product
has nothing to do with shots or the camera; what I learnt is that when the process of
filming comes along, all those rules of how to film (framing, 180 degree rule etc) go
out the window and creativity takes over as how can you be creative by listening to
so many rules. That’s not say that I totally ignored the rules as you can’t film without
abandon, for example the framing rules (leaving enough space for the head without
missing too much of the head) is something that needs to be adhered to. I also learnt
that sometimes the best shots are the most simple ones it is when you try to be over-
clever that is when problems occur as these complicated shots are those that may
sound good in theory but look absolutely rubbish on camera. Keeping it simple may
sound condescending but if you stick with it and then add in a few creative shots and
nice angles then you have a stellar film on your hands. Another shot I learnt that was
really useful was tracking shots, I never all the ways in which you could use tracking
shots, they truly are a multi-purpose camera shot and you can use them in all sorts of
ways that will look good on film; for example in my film there was a shot that
consisted of me tracking our lead actor through the bushes and then going up close to
her face.
Looking back to your preliminary task, what do
you feel that you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
The main thing that I learnt was all the planning factors that comes with filming an
opening to a thriller is really important. I never realized the full scale of planning
person has to go through in order to begin planning as at GSCE Media all we did was
a storyboard and a script and then it was off to film. But in the preliminary task the
only thing we did was a pitch, a short treatment and a storyboard, so I was shocked
when it came to our final product and we had to produce a location recce, a risk
assessment, a storyboard, a shooting schedule and a production schedule. I didn’t
realize it then but the planning actually helps when preparing for a task like this as it
gives a step by step guide to what you need to do; I now recognize the importance of
planning when it comes to projects such as this and will follow in the same pattern in
the future. Another thing that I have learnt from the preliminary task to the full
product is that group communication is vital if you want to achieve the highest grade
possible, this means listening to every members opinions and organizing group
meetings to discuss how the film is going so far and to hear everyone’s
disappointments and complaints. Sadly, in the task my group didn’t do all of these
things and it is only in hindsight that I realized the importance of group
communication as it just makes everything flow much smoother as well as making
everyone in the group feel respected and needed. But overall I think that although
my group and I had our problems we produced a good piece of work that I hope will
get us a good grade, and I have enjoyed this project despite the stress that came with
it!!