Introduction to A2

This year on my blog I will have to produce an Advanced Portfolio in Media (which is valued at 100 marks) . This will involve blog post’s documenting our research , a music video, a website for the music video and a Digi-pack.

I will be looking at music videos and the elements used to construct, produce and promote the media product.  Towards the end of the year we will be making a music video, then creating a website for the artist/band and album cover for the artist/band.

From my previous blog, I learnt to record everything that was important in the process and also how I can use different technologies to make my posts more engaging. This is a skill that I will carry on into my A2 year. 

I think that my level of detail in my posts was something that went well , I’m also happy with the vast amount of content and information included on the blog. I think that my previous blog could have used more technologies so that my posts could have been more interesting and interactive. 

I think for this upcoming year, I will have a lot of content to write about, therefore I will hopefully make my blog posts more concise so that I have time to write about everything that occurs in the year. I would like to incorporate new technologies into my blog by presenting my posts in different formats (slideshare, videos etc…). 

Final Post: Our Thriller

This is a clip of our final thriller 'Dammia', a story of a man who digs up his sisters corpse in order to bring her back to life.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (Task 7)

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (Task 6)

As a group we got together and discussed the technologies we used and have added annotations to our final thriller describing the range of technologies we have used to produce it. 

Overall, my use of technologies in the process of production have improved drastically from the beginning of the project to the final product. At the start of the production I had limited knowledge on handling a camera (e.g. focusing, zooming and moving it around). However I noticed that during the process, different shots that we filmed, required me to perform different camera techniques. With the help of the crew I was able to cement my understanding of the camera. For example, whilst Naomi panned the camera across the dressing table, I twisted the focus lens so that the camera could go in and out of focus, this was to give a disorientated look on camera. 

Another technology I used and improved my use of was the editing software, Adobe Premier Pro. At the start, I did not know how to cut the clips and add layers; I had a limited understanding of how to manipulate the timeline. But as we went through the editing process I learnt how to use cutting tools, trim clips and as far as editing sound and adding titles. 

The cutting tool I used to cut the clips  

I was quite daunted, by the editing task ahead, however I was able to quickly learn new techniques and apply them in editing my final product.

How did you attract/address your audience? (Task 5)

Hollywood reporter: We are glad to have Mr.Nabeel in the studio today to discuss his latest film ‘Dammia’ 

Mr.Nabeel: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here

Hollywood reporter: My biggest question for you today is how did you attract and address your audience?

Mr.Nabeel: We knew what our audience wanted and we made sure our film fulfilled their needs. Firstly, our plot is an open narrative and open to the audiences interpretation. Our audience would like a plot that they can interpret individually. On top of that, the plot requires the viewer to piece it together and is quiet vague. And lastly, it had all the elements thriller audiences want to see, it is uncomfortable, mysterious and creepy.

Hollywood reporter: So what exact genre is the film?

Mr.Nabeel: The film is a sub-genre of the thriller genre, it is a psychological thriller

Hollywood reporter: What other films have been influential to your film?

Mr.Nabeel: I have always been inspired by Hitchcock, so ‘Psycho’ is a definite inspiration and as well the film ‘Silence of the Lambs’, ‘Love Object’ and the TV show ‘Dexter. Audiences that are fond of these films will also be attracted to our thriller. 

Hollywood Reporter: I just love the setting, but I didn’t really know where it was?

Mr.Nabeel: We set it in a bedroom in a boarding house. We chose this location because, the audience would relate with the setting of a girls bedroom, therefore making them feel uncomfortable. I think the audience will respond well to it, because it is a real and recognisable setting, thus the audience will invest time in the plot and character; putting them on edge due to their emotional connection to the film.

Hollywood reporter: It’s amazing how much work it goes in choosing and setting a location. Can you tell us more about your plot line?

Mr.Nabeel: It is about a girl getting ready, until it is revealed at the end that she was being dressed and made-up by a grown man. 

Hollywood Reporter: That sounds so interesting and creepy, but how will this attract your audience?

Mr.Nabeel: The make-up sequence is visually attracting, the reds and pinks against her white skin. The visual elements create soft and delicate images that get interrupted by the overall tense and dark atmosphere. The audience is pulled further in and shocked when it is revealed that the man was doing it all. It sustains the tension until the end when there is a sudden reveal.

Hollywood reporter: And how would this address what your audience is expecting?

Mr.Nabeel: We are approaching this film simplistically with a thriller approach. Our plotline and editing techniques create a vague and intense plot, which the audience needs to deduce, interpret and put together- It is not patronising, like most thrillers out there. This makes the film very engaging with the audience, satisfying their needs for a thriller audience.

Hollywood Reporter: Now that we know about the plot, tell us about the characters, what kind of characters are they and will your audience like them or not?

Mr.Nabeel: Well the main character is the ‘Psychopathic Man’ he is very complex and I think the audience might fear him or be intimidated but will be very interested in his psyche and why he does what he does. There are many supporting characters, the girl is dead from the start and the audience might empathise with her because she is very vulnerable to the man. However, her purpose is to be a tool to engage us with the male character.

Hollywood Reporter: And to what social groups would your film appeal to?

Mr.Nabeel:  We are targeting a male audience of 40+, that is our target audience. We did this by creating a complex narrative which would need a mature and experienced audience with a critical thinking ability to understand the plot and themes of the film. The plot could be too complex for a younger audience. 

Hollywood Reporter: So the soundtrack you used in the beginning, could you tell us more about that?

Mr.Nabeel: We used a non-diegetic soundtrack, it is a soft jazz piece, its slow tempo synchronises with the rhythmic and slow pace of the sequence. It is also contrapuntal to the images on screen, therefore making the viewer feeling uncomfortable, because the music does not fit with the atmosphere of the sequence. The increase in tempo in the music builds the tension as there are more clues revealed that she is not putting on the make-up herself. The name of the soundtrack is 

 “It Hurts to Say Goodbye”, which ironically, fits with the plot line because the ‘Man’ cannot say goodbye to his dead sister.

Hollywood Reporter: You had some interesting people in your titles during the opening sequence, what information did you give and why?

Mr.Nabeel: Well, I followed the general conventions and rules of the industry and placed the directors name first, then studio, then production companies then actors and crew last. Because the film is so confusing, I wanted the audience when reading the title sequence to at least know the basic information of the people in and behind the film, I didn’t want it all to be vague, that’s why the titles are clear and simple. 

Hollywood Reporter: What clues might the credits give your target audience?

Mr.Nabeel: We had new actors and directors that the audience would not know, and would be interested in discovering, for a lot of these actors it was their debut role.

Hollywood Reporter: What editing techniques and style were you going for and how would this attract your audience?

Mr.Nabeel: We wanted to have a basic rhythm throughout the sequence. We used a technique where would count ‘1,2,3’ and then cut, ‘1,2,3’ and then cut. This made the sequence have a consisted pace which balanced the shocking and tense images on screen. The cuts in between transitions were as smooth as possible and also when we cut on action, this was to create a fluid and easy to watch sequence. We did not want to use complicated transitions and effects because we wanted to have the piece as simplistic as possible so that the audience could focus on the plot and detail of the images. The simplistic and raw editing used would also be appreciated by an older audience who are generally not fans of special effects, and computer graphics. We wanted to bring it back to basics. 

Hollywood Reporter: Well that’s perfect, I think that’s all we need, thank you so much for your time. I can’t wait to see it. ‘Dammia’ is out this summer, June 16^th, at all your local cinemas.

Mr.Nabeel: Thank you.

Who would be the audience for your media product? (Task 4)

To work out our target audience for our thrillers we filmed 12 interviews with people of different ages and genders, 2 in each age group. The groups were: 

1. Boys 15-20
2. Girls 15-20
3. Man 21-39
4. Woman 21-39
5. Man 40+
6. Woman 40+

In the interviews we asked each person 6 questions, 3 were simple closed questions so that I could easily place the data into graphs. And the other 3 were broad open questions that I explained and analysed. 

The 3 closed questions were:

1. How old are you?
2. What is your favourite film genre?
3. Do you like or dislike thrillers?

The answers to these questions could be easily analysed and placed in graphs. 

The 3 open broad questions were:

1. Why do you like/dislike thrillers?
2. Who do you watch thrillers with?
3. How do you feel after having watched a thriller?

I later described the answers to these questions because it is not possible to explain these answers on a graph.

If I had more time I would like to have interviewed more people from each age group. Due to the small sample size the data is limited and doesn't give a clear representation of the different demographics.

Below is a series of slide showing and explaining my process in researching, analysing and concluding my target audience. 

Below is a video of the interviews that we conducted in order to find out our target audience. Two of the people we interviewed did not want to be included in the video, however they gave us permission to use their results and data in the analysis and conclusion. 

Video of our interviews

Below is the data collected from interviews which I placed on a bar chart

These are the findings concluded from the interviews which I briefly analysed. 

I then broke down the film genre preferences of all the males and females in the study

When asked "When having to watch a thriller who do you watch them with?", three of the males responded by saying they watch them alone, the main reason was because their family or friends do not like watching thrillers, therefore they watch them alone. The other three males said they watch them with their friends, family or spouse. 

Whereas for the females asked 5 out of the 6 said they watched them with friends and family whilst only 1 said they watched them alone. 

When asked "How do you feel after watching a thriller?"

The majority of the answers were "It depends on how the film was, if its a good thriller then it can make you feel scared or shocked, but if it's a bad film then you feel disappointed"

A lot of the answers revolved around the same point, that their level of satisfaction depended on the quality of the thriller and plot. 

One popular adjective used was "thrilled!". The reason so many people don't have a definite answer on how they feel after having watched a thriller may be because there are many sub-genre's within the 'Thriller' genre and due to its wide spectrum of films, it has become an overused genre of film, causing the plot-lines and conventions to have become cliched. Therefore, audiences have become very wary when choosing to watch a thriller. 

As part of the evaluation I created a social media profile on Facebook of our target audience. It is of a middle aged man, with interest and social media posts that reflect our target audience and a mock profile of someone that would see our film.

As you can see our target audience 'Robert' is born March 14th 1970, making him 45 years old, fitting within the 40+ age range.

I used landscape photos that I took to use for the cover art and a free stock image of a middle aged man for the profile picture. 

I also wrote a post on the film 'Psycho' to show his intrigue in thrillers.

I also wrote a short intro of his favourite things, the have a better insight into our target audience.

On 'Robert's page I chose some of his likes, being a man who is in his mid 40's I chose music that reflected the music genre's prevalent during his upbringing. I also chose a lot of rock bands because I thought that stereo-typically people who like, eccentric and aggressive music would also like to watch deep, dark and interesting thrillers. 

 I also wrote posts of him asking "Friends, whats the song in the scene where buffalo bill is dressed as a woman and dancing in the room?" this shows that he has an interest in psychological thrillers (just like ours). It also makes him look like a realistic person, because most of peoples posts are either statement or question based.

I also made him sound older by posting "I love this Facebook" which is not how most young people talk when discussing social media. Additionally, the post included photos from the film 'Memento' another psychological thriller. This further shows his interest into films that are similar to the genre of our thriller. 

To further emphasis his older age, I posted a photo of a dog with a caption "Its okay buddy, getting old aint easy!!! Max's 11th Birthday!" It also was a side post from all the others on thrillers, just to show that he could be a real person with other interests. 

 I also wrote a post advertising our thriller. This was to show that people from our target audience would like our thriller.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? (Task 3 Part 2)

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