Lola (Final Edit)

Evaluation Question 07

Evaluation Question 06

Evaluation Question 05

Evaluation Question 04

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Why are thrillers popular?
Thrillers are popular because:
- They provide thrills
- They keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax
- The main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation/mystery or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible
- Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation
- Thrillers are also designed to elicit tension and suspense, taking the viewer through agony and fear
- There are murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers
- Thrillers keep the emphasis away from the gangster, crime or the detective in the crime-related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is generated
- Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers and innocent victims (often on the run) etc.
- The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder

15 Certificate Guidelines
Strong Language: 
"At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’). Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15."
Discriminatory/Offensive Terms: 
 "There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this. However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour."
Themes;
"No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds."
Sex and Nudity;
"At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category.
Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will usually be no strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality."
Strong Violence;
"At 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable."
Sexual Violence;
"There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context."
Horror;
"At 15 there can be strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat."
Drugs;
"At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15."

Target Audience
When producing our media piece, we looked into different themes as well as what would appeal to certain age groups. We felt that thrillers themselves appeal to a more younger audience (teenagers/young adults), therefore we approached the making of our thriller opening with the intentions of making it suitable for a younger audience to watch. One of the main reasons we chose to target a teenage age group is that during our research most of our questionnaires and research methods were answered and discussed by that target group. Therefore, we felt that our thriller opening, although targeted at a certain audience needed to be available to most people and so certifying our thriller at 15+ was the most suitable way to make it available to our target group whilst being able to work with the 'thriller' element of our piece. 

Why are thrillers popular? http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html
15 Certificate Guidelines http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15

Evaluation Question 03

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
 

Evaluation Question 02

Evaluation Question 02 from visitor567

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Evaluation Question 01

Thriller - Final Edit

Third Draft

Second Draft Feedback

What did you think about our opening title and vignette effect?

Second Draft

Opening Title

How To Use Lights In Adobe After Effects

As I stated in my previous post, during the production of our opening title, I was finding some difficulties with adjusting and tailoring the light tool within Adobe After Effects, therefore, I searched for another tutorial on youtube in order to gain a better understanding as to how to use the tool. I found this tutorial which was very useful and helped me significantly in order to reach the opening title idea, I had in mind. 

Creating An Opening Title

As we wanted our thriller to look as professional as possible, we decided to produce an opening title using Adobe After Effects. As I had never previously used Adobe After Effects, I searched and educated myself on how to use the program by watching a Youtube tutorial. It was a challenging program to use at times (for example, when I used the light/shading effect on the title), but once I understood had to tailor and incorporate various effects, I adapted my final opening title (using the tutorial) in order to make my opening title as appropriate as possible. I found this tutorial very useful and the end product fit perfectly with my thriller.

Creating A Vignette Effect

In order to add a vignette effect to my thriller, I had to research how to create the effect in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 as I did not know how to create it. I watched a youtube tutorial that enabled me to gain an understanding on how to create this effect in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. As I could not find a tutorial that applied to Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, I watched an updated version which applied to Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 which was very easy to follow and replicate. I wanted to incorporate this effect within my thriller in order to make the opening sequence look much more like a flashback. 

This is a screenshot of Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 whilst we are creating the effect and incorporating it, within our thriller. 

 

First Draft Feedback

First Draft

(Primary) Audience Research Evaluation

Risk Assessment

Storyboard

(Completed by Irena Mileva, Lucy Hickling & Mollie Ridgard)

Shot Plans

Props

(Completed by Irena Mileva, Mollie Ridgard and Lucy Hickling) 

Staircase Scene:

• Broken bottles
• Broken picture frame
• Flowers
• Vase
• Scarf
• Clothes/jewellery
• Anniversary Card

Bedroom Scene:

• Red lipstick
• Red nail varnish
• Clothes
• Earrings
• Perfume
• Rings
• Mascara
• Shoes

Costumes

(Completed by Mollie Ridgard) 

The scene when where we see Marisa’s clothing ‘is the morning after she came home from a date with the guy the night before and she has just attacked’. She will be getting ready in the morning by putting on her makeup and brushing her hair. We have decided to dress her in smart casual clothing so it looks like she is trying to look normal in everyday clothing as she doesn’t want to look suspicious. She will be wearing jeans with a smart top and no shoes to show she is still in the process of getting ready, this is to show she is trying to be an ordinary girl. 

Location Shots

Filming Schedule

(Completed by Lucy Hickling) 
In order to work as efficiently as possible with minimal time wasted, we created a filming schedule discussed what we were going to achieve on each day of filming. This will enable us to organise ourselves as well as to plan our filming accordingly. 

Equipment List 
We also created an equipment list with the intention of organising ourselves and wasting as little time as possible. The equipment that we need to take with us will include:
- Light Reflector
- Lights 
- Cannon EOS 550D
- Tripod

(Secondary Audience Research) Age Certificate Guidelines

Before planning many aspects of our thriller, I decided to carry out some secondary research and look into the guidelines of various age certificates in order to gain a better understanding as to what makes a film a certain age certificate. Furthermore, I also carried out this research in order to see what I would have to include/not include in order to reach an appropriate age group. Furthermore, I chose to look at the age certificate "12 and 12A" as well as "15", I decided to look at these to ages certificates in order to distinguish the two. This will also enable me to tailor my target audience as well as tweak my thriller in the future in order to make it as suitable as possible.

What's the difference between 12 and 12A?
"The 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. This is enforced by cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if adult accompaniment is not enforced for children under 12 admitted to a 12A film. Accompanied viewing cannot be enforced in the home, so the 12 certificate remains for DVD/Blu-ray, rather than the 12A. The 12 is also a simpler system for retailers. It means they cannot sell or rent the item unless the customer is over the age of 12."

Age 12 and 12A Certificate Guidelines

Strong Language: 
"The BBFC's Guidelines state that strong language (e.g. 'f***') may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category. There may be moderate language (e.g. uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A)."
Discrimination: 
 "Any discriminatory language or behaviour will not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language (for example homophobic or racist terms) is unlikely to be passed at 12A or 12 unless it is clearly condemned."
Sex Behaviour:
"Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed at 12A or 12. Verbal sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Comedy may lessen the impact of some moderate sex references or innuendo but frequent crude sex references are unlikely to be accepted at this category. There may be nudity in 12A films but nudity in a sexual context should only be brief and discreet. Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality."
Violence:
"At 12A, moderate violence is allowed but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if they can be justified by their context (for example brief sight of bloody injury in a medical drama). Action sequences and weapons may be present at 12A or 12, and there may be long fight scenes or similar. Weapons which might be easily accessible to 12 year olds (such as knives) should not be glamorised in 12A and 12 works. Sexual violence, such as scenes of rape or assault, may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated at 12A and 12. Such scenes must also have a strong contextual justification."
Horror:
"Some horror films are passed at this category. Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12 or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing."
Drugs:
"Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging and suicide) may be present in 12A or 12 works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities in a manner that children are likely to copy. Anti-social behaviour should not be endorsed. There may be infrequent sight of drugs misuse in a 12A or a 12 but the portrayal should not be glamorised or provide instructional detail."

Age 15 Certificate Guidelines
Strong Language: 
"At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’). Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15."
Discriminatory/Offensive Terms: 
 "There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this. However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour."
Themes:
"No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds."
Sex and Nudity:
"At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will usually be no strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality."
Strong Violence:
"At 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable."
Sexual Violence:
"There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context."
Horror:
"At 15 there can be strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat."
Drugs:
"At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15."

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/12a-and-12  
 http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15 

Actors

(Completed by Mollie Ridgard) 

Mysterious Girl: Marisa Onorati, we chose Marisa because we needed a stereotypical ‘girly girl’ but also has the casual effect towards the audience. We need her to wear casual clothing but looking girly, this makes her suitable for the opening scene of our thriller because she will be putting lipstick on as well as brushing her hair but then it will pan to the body. At the start it will show us that she is an average teenager but then shows us the arm of the dead body then it will confuse the audience as they will think she is typically a good girl. 

Dead Body: Jordan Brightmore, we chose Jordan because we needed a masculine hand and arm which will be pocking of from underneath the bed which fake blood on/around.