Final Evaluation powerpoint -

Media thriller opening evaluation

View more presentations from Serena Moriarty.

Audience Feedback -

We posted our final version of "The Unheard" on facebook to see the comment we got. This tells us if the audience have connected with the opening, if they understand it and appreciate some of the elements of it. Audience feedback is vital for producers that want to know if their film is going to be a hit, they will consult their targeted audience along the way. Our target audience is young adults and older teens (15+) of both genders, however it might also appeal to a slightly older age range. we found in our research that People of this age tend to be quite opinionated, but also not so quick and knowledgeable, so want a more easily digestible film, not one that is too difficult to understand unlike Inception or The Da Vinci Code. The people that commented were towards the lower barrier of our target audience, all between 16 and 18, this is because this is the section of our audience we could easily target. because of this, the feedback isnt entirely reppresentative of our audience, so whilst it is useful to gain the feedback, it doesnt show us the views of our whole target audience.

"best part no doubt was the whispering. creeeeeepy"

( this was mentioned often, that the use of the whispers was very effective, and quite creepy, which is important for a psychological thriller )

"i like the use of trees, very nicely done"

( the audience also connected with the tree's as they are a well known and used convention or a psychological/mystery thriller, this shows us that the audience react well to the familiar conventions we have used )

"the music is nice and atmospheric and combined with the long lingering shots of the trees and the way the camera pans round, it adds an eerie element of suspense. but your names don't have capital letters"
( This person mentions the tree's adding suspense, as they are making a link between the tree's in our thriller and in other thrillers they have seen before. The audience will know from previous films that if they see shots of tree's and woods, combined with tense music they are expecting something to happen. this is an example of where the conventions are so familiar that the audience is one step ahead of the opening, which could be taken to mean that they "know what will happen next" and are therefore over exposed to this combination of woods and tense music and are therefore not excited by it. however, i think it is an achievement tha the audience could make that connection between our oepning and other thrillers of the genre, through the conventions we used) 


"i think it's a great opening, as it doesn't have to much of a story and leaves the viewer engaged. I like the suspense of the pans, but feel they do slightly drag on. I love the music as it adds to the suspense, and i love the title at the end :) "
( this person really appreciated the end title, which was something a bit different and impressive, it is also quite fitting of the genre, this once again suggests that the audience appreciate familiarity with the genre )

"I loved the music - really chilling! And the whispering was great, I have to agree :) I think this is a really cool start"
( the music was very popular, as it set a tense mood)

"Love the timing of the music and the whispering. Really builds up the suspense! Love it"
We paid specific attention to the timing of the music so that the tension built up fluidly, to a peak in time with the peak of the footage, so that it flowed. This shows us that the extra attention to timing paid off, as the whole piece built up to a point. this was something we had a problem with when intially filming, and in the first drafts that we did.

It was really useful to gain feedback, but could have been a good plan to ask our audiences opinions during production , because we did audience research at the beginning, and assesed their reactions at the end, but during the process it would have been useful as it would have helped shape our opening and tailor it more to their wants. From the feedback it is clear some of the aspects of the opening have been successful with our target audience, but a wider range of views from a wider audience on some other aspects such as the editing, which was overlooked by the audience, would have been more valuable. a more critical response would have been useful too.

Evaluation - (draft)

1. in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
our opening incorporates many conventions of a thriller throughout the piece. The use of a white font on a black background ( insert picture) fits the aesthetic conventions of a thriller, as this is a commonly seen colour combination, setting a dark serious tone. Another conventions we used, however hopefully not in a cliche way, was the use of a woods for the setting of the piece, this is often seen in thrillers, mainly psychological, and is something so conventional it is often steered away from. We decided as a group that if we didnt use cliche shots, such as long shots of the protagonist running, then it could be used a effective setting that gave use the right mood and backdrop. The weather we chose to film in, a dreary clouded drizzly sort of weather, is also quite conventional, the light and subtle damp added to the eerieness of the scene. The high pitched dramatic soundtrack is also rather conventional, something that is often used as it adds tension and pace. Lastly, the use of the word "the" on the title of our film is very conventional for a psychological thriller, seen in other films such as "The Ring", "The Grudge" and "The Sixth sense", which are films in the same genre as ours, that have been very successful.It is therefore clear to see the title has been influenced by these films. I dont think our thriller challenge these conventions to a great extent, but uses them to enhance the genre and connect with the audience through their familiar understanding of these conventions. Our research showed us that the audience respond well to conventions, as they are things that have been previously successful, and this is backed up by our feedback, as the audience all comment on well used conventions such as the Woods setting and the eerie soundtrack, commenting that these were particularly successful.
The conventions we used definitely reflect our chosen genre, which is a hybrid mix of psychological and mystery, but with a slight occult twist. We felt that a rigid genre was not important, as recently the barriers of genre have become looser and films are more free to mix between, so our opening is predominantly psychological, with a twist of mystery and occult. It is clear to see the psychological influence through the conventions we use, and also the occult influence, such as the locket, which could be seen to be a religious or cult symbol, and the whispers too.


2. how does your media product represent different social groups?
The age group represented is young adults, which is the same as our audience, establishing a link between them. We use both genders is in our opening, with the male as the protagonist and the female as the antagonist, which is a twist on convention in thrillers, although seen in more recent years, as the audiences rigid views on gender and their roles have broken down. Other films such as "The Grudge", "The Exorcist" and "The Ring" use a female antagonist, so this is not seen as uncommon for the psychological genre, and something that audiences respond well to. We shot the male characters from above on the most part, connoting weakness and subservience. Although they are the main characters of the opening, the rest of the film would represent both genders more equally. The target audience are of both genders, so by including both in some way we are appealing to everyone. Using a male as a protagonist is likely to appeal to females, who will be please to see a spin on the convention of a feeble woman sometimes seen in thrillers, however it could also be attractive to males as they are seen as the lead role and get all the screen time.
3. what kind of  media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our opening is fairly mainstream, so would be suitable to be produced for Theatres, it would be likely to be quite large and popular as it is something that would appeal to a wide range of people, as it not niche. This release into cinema’s would also gain interest from the audience much more than if it were released on TV or straight to DVD, as our audience will expect to be able to see a film in a cinema, and are likely to go, with friends or family, much more than they are likely to buy a DVD. This is therefore the best way of appealing to the audience and enticing them to watch the film. It is similar to films in the same sort of sub genre, such as The Ring, that have been very successful, in the way that they both feature a recurring spooky thing that is mysteriously causing deaths. The Ring was very successful, eventually producing a sequel too, and I could see our film generating the same sort of interest, as it appeals to the same mass audience, but is different enough to be interesting.

4. who would be the audience for your media product?

We settled on a target audience after much research into what we could include in a film in each classification, we then had to choose to set at a 15+ so we could include mild violence and language, these would both appeal to older teens and youong adults who will find it more relateable and enjoyable to see gore and hear actors use “real” language that they use. Our opening is pitched at 15+ teens to young adults, this is seen in the use of a simplistic narrative, that would not be too complicated or difficult to digest, and in the use of conventions that are fairly basic and juvenile. I think older people would wish for a more challenging or mentally stimulating thriller, whereas ours is quite straightforward. It appeals to both genders, as they will both be represented, although the females will remain dominant, as the voice of the spirit in the locket is a female.

5. how did you attract/ address your audience?

I think our media product appeals to our audience as we based it around them. WE used characters of the same age group so they can relate to them, we used an easy narrative that isn’t too complicated or adult to be understood, we made sure we made links with other popular films for this age group,  we used conventions people of this age would be familiar with, and also pitching it as a “15” as our age group could be put off were it pitched at a “12”.  We feature many point of view shots, and the locket sequence is filmed as though you are there watching it, involving the audience. We make sure to stick to camera angles and shoot at levels that were natural, also not breaking the 180 degree rule which feels abnormal. One of our shots it a point of view of the male protagonist, putting the audience in his shoes, and showing them what he feels, which is including them. I think the way in which most of the audience will feel connected to it is because its relatable.

6. what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

We faced many problems during production and post production, partly due to being new to the equipment, and partly because it was temperamental. When filming, we found the camera ran out of battery very quickly, and we swapped cameras, only to realise later they filmed in different quality and size, this is something someone with experience would have known, but that we didn’t think about. We then had to use only one camera, which we stuck to for the whole process. We also had problems using the camera in the wet weather conditions, as it was expensive equipment, we needed to protect it well, something we hadn’t thought of before we got to our location. Looking back, extra preparation and planning would have prevented problems like these. We learnt a great deal about the editing software, Premier pro, which we hadn’t previously used. We therefore found some parts of it challenging, such as fitting the footage to the right size on premiere, however the editing process went fairly smoothly, without too many problems, once we had learnt the basics. It was a great learning curve, and we found that towards the end we could use it much more proficiently.

7. looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel your have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.

Our continuity task is significantly worse than the final product, it was really rather poorly filmed and edited.  We learnt from the continuity task that storyboarding is more important than we oringinally thought, so for the thriller opening we storyboarded fully, many times, so we could think about the best way of getting the shot, and telling the narrative, and so we were all working towards the same idea when we got to the location. We learnt greatly about how to use the equipment, namely the camera, which we didn’t get level or framed properly in the original task, I feel our camera work came along a great deal. We also learnt the importance of neat editing, of making sure everything flows smoothly and is cut exactly to the right point, as well as the importance of the post production e.g the titles and transitions, which were extremely poor on the original task. It is clear looking at both of them that we have learnt alot in the process, and come a long way . We have learnt that we should have timed the storyboard before filming on location, because when we edited it originally, we only had a minute of good footage, this meant our storyboard was too short, and we spent hours trying to figure out how to lengthen it, without making it boring, or changing the flow of the piece, as we wanted the opening to come to a peak towards the end. We also now know we should have planned the whole project better, and organised ourselves better within the group, because poor preparation made a poor project, and our original rough cut wasn’t very successful. There seemed to be a domino effect, in which our research, which wasn’t in depth enough, affected our planning which wasn’t thorough enough, which then affected our final opening. I think our product fulfils the brief, it is an interesting yet fairly conventional typical thriller opening of our hybrid genre.

Break down of the opening -

This is the main title, we chose a white colour on a black background as this fits with the conventional aesthetics of a psychological thriller. The production title is a different font from the rest of the titles, as this usually occurs, as the production company are separate to the film and have their own logo/identity. This therefore looks more professional.

 This is the first shot, it is a long shot at eye level, and contains compressed time, so the actor walking towards the camera happens quicker than in reality, we made the transition between the compressed time cross dissolves, which made the pace slow and dreary. this is a fairly conventional shot, especially the hood that the character has and the silence of the location.

 This is a long pan of the location, it sets the location for the piece, whilst also establishing an eerie " something is about to happen" feel for the audience. We filmed it at an off angle so the camera wasnt level, giving a disorientated feel. The boy in the corner lying by the tree is supposed to signify something is wrong, he has suddenly died, and is now a mystery, he is therefore a signifier for what is to come.

 this shot is another slow pan, keeping the pace slow and building up tension. the bare wintery trees are very conventional and the almost black and white colours are quite scary and eerie. It is a high angle shot that pans in a circle, also disorientating the audience. it is supposed to feel odd and unnatural.


This is a worms eye view of the trees swaying, from the characters point of view as he suddenly opens his eyes, this is involving the audience, as they can see what he is seeing, it also gives a really nice mood. as you can see the tree's towering over you. it also continues with the audiences disorientation as they are not sure why they are on the ground, and it isnt very natural. and also is very conventional
with the swaying tree's.

 This is a CU birds eye view of the character blinking awake, it shows the audience that the character is unaware of his surroundings, and shows them his facial expression, which is shocked and confused.

 This is a mid shot and close up combined, the shot starts with the character getting up and looking around, then catching sight of the locket, the camera then switches focus to a close up of the locket. This therefore shows the audience his interest in the object, as well as showing them a close up detailed view of the object.

 this is a low angle long shot of the character lying on the floor, it shows the isolation of the area, as you can still trees, everything is very still, making it quite eerie. The use of a high angle is belittling him, making him look small and weak, which is what we wanted to show, as he is helpless.

 This is a high angle mid shot to close up of the character opening the locket, it gives us a view of his reaction, and the angle makes everything including his surroundings look very overpowering and scary.

 This is an extreme close up of the locket, the idea was that the audience would see a picture of the protagonist inside the locket, which would become the mystery of our psychological/mystery thriller, but it is unclear what is inside the locker, it is a nice over the shoulder shot though and is only brief in the opening.

 This is the final shot of the boy running through the trees, the camera titles as he runs further into the horizon, it is a very cliched shot, but is very effective, the rigid lines of the tree's has a nice effect, and it ends the piece with a long shot of the scenery, much as it began, so the opening is quite cyclic.

This is the final title, we chose the same aesthetics, and used an AfterEffects effect to make the title shake and jitter slightly, which is conventional in some psychological openings such as Se7en. we also used a jumbled letter effect which was a nice effect that backed up the genre.

Final cut - The Unheard

This is our final opening, with everything finished and edited. The black border was not in the original edited copy on premier, but appeared when we exported it, so we may need to sort this out as it uploaded to youtube very small. here it is :

Additional filming 1/04/2011

- we went out to the location to do some more shots to place at the beginning of our opening, originally the opening started with small clips of tree's at worms eye view, that looked like blinks. it was supposed to give the audience a feeling that they were looking at the sky, so they felt included, and could see what the character would be seeing. however, after reviewing the opening we felt the blinks were too robotic and didnt feel natural, and the effect wasnt working how we would have liked. we then decided to shoot some more footage, some location shots, to give a background and set the scene to the opening, as we were going straight in with the narrative orginally. this also gives a better background for the titles, and is something often seen in movie openings, such as Donnie Darko, which is a psychological thriller much like ours. This also gives more flow to the piece, and it starts off quite slow, with slow pans of still scenery, then builds up to a point, so the tension builds right and the piece works better as an opening, in the original edited version our peak was at the beginning and then the tension was lost towards the end, which didnt work right, so we have might a drastic change to how the piece flows and builds.
- we shot a compressed time piece, which was of a male protagonist walking towards the camera. with chunks of the walking cut our and a fade between the shots, to speed up the piece and give the illusion of time passing quite smoothly, it keeps the piece very fluid to start with, as we wanted the opening to begin slow paced and then pick up
- we did some panning long shots of tree's and woods, at an awkward off angle, somewhere between eye level and high angle shot, we also deliberately decided not to level the tripod, to give an eerie distorted feel.
- the use of the dead character lying by the tree makes the audience aware something is about to happen, it is also deliberately confusing and is something that will be later worked out in the film, as it is partly a mystery thriller, it would be explained why the boy had died so suddenly.

additional scene - the phone

we added a new scene onto the storyboard, of someone ringing the actor's phone, such as his mum, and being worried sick because he has been missing for a while and no one can contact him. we then decided not to use this additional scene, and use the sound from of it in the beginning as we watch the tree's swaying, as he has just passed out, he has dropped his phone without hanging up, and the person on the other end is trying to get hold of him, it makes it a little creepy. the person is supposed to sound worried and upset and makes the audience aware soemthing terribhle is happening.

evaluation of additional scene:
we chose not to use this additional scene after we had filmed it, because it did not flow with the piece. the sudden change of location was not something we wanted in our opening, asd we felt two minutes is too short to include two locations and make them make enough sense. the build up of tension is when the actor opens the locket, and then the phone scene after this let the build up die down and was lengthy and uninteresting. it was a fairly good idea but did not fit well with our vision for the piece and looked cheap, and our aim was to make our opening look as proffessional as possible. we therefore cut this scene out when we edited the film for the second time and chose to leave the ending as the boy running form the locket with the subtle fade to the end title, and leave that as the end.