Evaluation

Our film uses forms and conventions of real media products by firstly using different types of camera shots that allow the audience to feel more involved in the film. We used crab shot at the start of the opening to build tension on the features of the main character. Tension enables the audience to interpret specific details in the film that aren’t given away easily. We decided we didn’t want our film to be solely a thriller, so we put some humour in the middle. Even though the audience may not find it funny, the idea is for them to acknowledge it and understand our reasons for using differing aspects; that subvert the traditions of a thriller.

Our film represents particular social groups so the audience doesn’t feel like the film is dedicated to specific types of people. The concept of using a female as the victim was on the basis of the typical characters in thrillers, yet we contrasted this by adding a male even though our group was solely girls. The fact our opening was to cater to the thriller genre, it was hard to understand if all types of the audience would like this certain genre of film. So we thought an all-girl group would shed some light on our interpretation of a thriller without the stigma of thrillers being for the male sex.

When discussing the type of media institution that might distribute our film, we thought Colombia Pictures as it caters more to 15+ films. The other organisations such as Disney or Paramount Pictures have often promoted child films, so if they were to produce a thriller film there are problems with how seriously the film will be taken. We also saw our film being promoted through newspapers, trailers to other films, TV and websites like YouTube or Facebook. This allows everyone to see the promotions, as the film is seen as viral.

The target audience for our film is based on a large variety. We understood the image attached to thrillers involved male adults; however we argued the point that it generally depends on the likes and dislikes of the individuals in the audience. Therefore we decided not to group the target audience as a whole, but try to cater to their separate tastes.

Attracting the audience was a difficult task that our group should have considered more of, but in all we went with what we thought was the best. The title of the opening, REVENGE, allows the audience to imagine different meanings for what the film involves. It interests them into actually coming to see the film, and if they don’t like it then that’s their own opinions; but at least they know what the film is about and understand the outcome.

In the process of constructing this film, our group learnt a lot about the technologies we had to use in filming. The video recorder was quite straight forward to use and we had no major difficulties with using it. However, the tripod concerned us in the movements and tracking of the characters. We found the angles problematic as we visualised the scenes to look a certain way, but the development of these scenes were much harder than we anticipated. As a group we learnt to use the equipment with patience but also admiration as we began to recognise different ways of using them.

Looking back at our preliminary task, we definitely learnt many relevant aspects to making a film. Firstly, without learning the thriller conventions and theories of Todorov and Propp, we wouldn’t have had any awareness of what we needed to do or even how to do it. The camera shots were easy because they enabled us to see them in ways which were easily understood on our terms. However, our group didn’t realise the many features of the film we had to acknowledge and discuss, these included: actors, location, sound, roles and responsibilities and representation. As we grasped the concepts and there impacts on the film, we began to realise that we need them in order to create a real film; that differs completely from our continuity task.