FINAL PRODUCT

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

To begin with, our Thriller fits into the sub-genre of Supernatural Thriller. After researching and analysing films like “The Evil Dead”, “Shutter Island” and “The babadook” we found that in conventional Thrillers the threat to the protagonist is a natural threat which is either another person or a natural disaster. Whereas in supernatural thrillers the treat is basically supernatural beings like spirits or ghosts. We found that in our film another sub genre that overlaps with our supernatural thriller sub genre is Psychological Thriller. This type of Thriller makes the protagonist and the audience unaware of whether the threat to them is a supernatural one or an internal one meaning that their minds are playing tricks on them. This ambiguity is exploited in our film to create tension. A series of enigmas are set up in our film, only to be solved at the end. Throughout our film opening questions like “Who is the main character?, What happened to her friend?, and whether her friend is a real ghost?” is raised by the audience. In the opening the antagonist ensnares the protagonist in an increasingly complex way, until the protagonist is in danger and is viewed as isolated and helpless. This idea is revealed to the audience in the last scene where her ghost friend appears from the reflection of the mirror. Our plan is to play around with conventions in Psychological Thrillers and make is so that the presence of her dead friend is all in her mind and that what the main character is seeing is due to the guilt of murdering her best friend.

Our film narrative centres upon murder and presents extraordinary events in ordinary situations and settings.Therefore, the use of the micro-elements are very important in creating and building up tension in the film. This build up of tension can be seen in the opening from the use of the glitching effect. We decided to apply this effect after agreeing that some shots were too simple and therefore we were afraid that we would lose our target audience's attention. So we came up with the solution of editing a glitch effect to improve each shot and make it appear more interesting. The glitch effect suits our film because the "glitch" creates a broken and out of place mood and atmosphere. Which is used to represent an error In the relationship between the two main characters.

We used colour grading to change the the tone of the film. I felt that decreasing the temperature would create a cold, lonely and sad atmosphere and raise a sense of mystery for the audience. After researching online we found that supernatural horror films like “The Ring”, “A Nightmare on Elm street”, and “Saw” uses an unnaturally blue and dim lighting as well. Also, since we used different cameras to shoot different scenes the quality, saturation, and tone was different for each clip so we had to separate these adjustment layers and edit each clip individually in order for it to look even as a whole.  

For Mise En Scene, while researching conventions of a supernatural thriller we found that horror films like insidious often use photographs to to reveal the ghost. For example In this shot from insidious we see an innocent kid wearing a white shirt, while the ghost is wearing black. The white shirt symbolises youth and innocence while the black symbolises danger and death. From this the audiences are able to identify who the protagonist is and who the antagonist is. However we wanted to leave this knowledge of who the antagonist and the protagonist was a mystery. Therefore we decided to let both characters wear white. This would help make it unclear for the audience and help build tension and create a mysterious atmosphere as audiences are unaware of which character to fear. We decided to use a photograph of the two characters as the first shot because it instantly sets a clear mood and theme that this is a film about friendship.

In class we learnt about the shape theory when analysing the opening of a Tv series called “Dexter”. We found that Sharp objects hold connotations of danger, violence, anger, harm, and pain. While circular shapes connotes an idea of friendship, trust, safety and happiness. For example, the denotation of this shot from dexter is that we see a mosquito feeding. However the connotation is that it gives the impression of someone slyly hurting others and killing them covertly. This could be seen as symbolising the fact that the main character is draining the life out of people. Therefore we decided to include the theory to the opening of the film. In our film we used sharp objects like a knife and a scissor to foreshadow danger and also to reveal the murder weapon. For example in our film there is a shot where we see a knife cutting a chicken. The connotation is that the knife is used to represent the main characters' violent manner while the chicken represents the friend that she harms and backstabs in the film. Also in the picture scene the murder weapon is revealed. We decided to use a scissor as a murder weapon because we thought that the character using scissors would make more sense because it is less dramatic compared to a knife and because of the fact that the character still goes to university, therefore she would easily have access to a scissor in her pencil case.

For sound, we did online research and analysed the film “Harry potter”. We decided to use Harry potter because it is a successful film that is able to build up tension using sound effects. We found that in one scene, whispering sound effects were used to build a tense and eerie atmosphere. This was the atmosphere we wanted to create for our target audience. So we decided to download whispering sound effects online and build it into the cinematic opening of our film. I felt that by adding it to the start of the film, we were able to instantly set a clear and creepy atmosphere and inform the audience that that our film is a horror thriller. We also decided to apply this to the photograph scene that displays the hatred the main character has for her friend. We did this because whispering in this scene symbolises the characters thoughts overlapping with each other. In addition, the fact that we are unable to make out what the whispering is about makes it even more scary. This is because it creates a sense of mystery as it builds a wall between the audience and the character causing the audiences to be frustrated as they are oblivious to the character’s thoughts.

For the main theme song we wanted something that would successfully create a sad and ironic mood. Therefore we did online research and found a beautiful composition called "Sad epic emotional music - farewell life". I thought that this piece would really suit our film because as soon as I heard it I felt really touched. The piece was both sad and ironic which was exactly the message that we wanted to communicate to the audience about the character's relationship in the film. Therefore after this we tried searching for Arn Andersson's contact information and received his permission to use his music as long as it is for nonprofit purposes. We decided to add the music along with the photograph scene above because we thought that the sad emotional music combined with a picture of the two friends would instantly reveal this sense of grief and reveal an unfortunate loss in love and friendship between the two characters in the photograph.

Also, to display the characters’ messed up relationship further we decided to create a montage of different sound effects like crying, laughing, humming, and screaming. By doing we reveal the journey that the characters both face. For example the crying effect is used to symbolise the betrayal the main character felt from her friend. While the screaming sound effect is used to foreshadow the moment the character gets murdered. By creating a montage and overlapping sound effects we are able to create confusion and frustration for the audience as they there is a dramatic contrast between laughing and crying sound effects. Therefore the audience are oblivious of what to feel for the two characters.

After doing online research we came across a thriller called “Scream” and found that scream uses tracking shots in the opening scene. The tracking shot was used here to create this idea that the main character was constantly being followed and so was never safe. The audience is placed in an ambiguous position of "voyeur" during this tracking shot at the beginning. Therefore we decided to apply this idea to the opening of our film. By doing this we were able to create the idea that someone was constantly following the main character at various places from behind. For example the narrow alleyway, the market and the bus scene. Tracking shots are also used in other thriller films likes Black Swan and Place among the Pines. Tracking shots are a good way of getting to know the main character as we see where the go. However there is a creepiness to tracking shots as it is almost like the character is being followed. Also the fact that we mostly see shots of the characters’ back symbolises this idea of how the main character always had her back facing her friend and therefore suggesting her carelessness and selfishness, which has caused her friend was able to easily able to backstab her.

2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

We wanted to create a character that would appeal to our target audience. To do this we had to search films that fall under the sub genre of Horror and Supernatural Thriller. Using YouGov profiles we looked up movies like Insidious and The Grudge and found that the demographics for the age of target audiences were between 18-29. While the gender was mainly female. By using this information we've decided to target the film towards teenage girls.

Since we will be filming in Bangkok we wanted to create a character that would appear believable through the audience's eyes.  Therefore it would be suitable to create  a character that dresses and follows thai culture. In Thailand, it is tradition to dress appropriately,  to have good manners, and behave responsibly. Therefore since our target audience falls under the ages of 18-29 we decided to create a character that is still studying at university. So we researched and found that Thai universities like Mahidol and Kraset requires female students to wear skirts that fall below knee length. This idea of wearing longs skirts gives the audience the impression that the character is concealing something and that she may not appear to be what she presents. This ambiguity of not knowing the character’s real personality helps keep the audience interested as they are constantly questioning the identity of the character.  Another thing we decided was the character’s makeup. Since Thai schools and universities do not allow students to wear heavy makeup we decided to find a makeup tutorial online that uses light makeup and looks natural. By doing this we are able to create a realistic character that follows the conventions of a Thai student.

However, a character we found that carries the most similarities to the character we plan to create is “Oil” from a Thai series called “Hormones”. In hormones Oil plays the quiet and unpopular friend who tries to destroy her best friends image by releasing horrible rumours after realising that the guy she likes, likes her best friend. Oil’s intentions of harming her friend is driven by anger and jealousy. Throughout the series her mental illness is revealed through the lies she tells, creating fake accounts on facebook and self harming. Another thing that makes her a suitable reference is that she is also a student and “Hormones” is a series that’s targeted at females between the same age group as our identified target audience.

To explore the theme of mental illness by showing a contrast in the character’s thoughts keeps the audience interested as the plot becomes unpredictable. For this concept we analysed a series called “Pretty little liars”. In this series we see friends exploiting, harming and turning against each other. the audience is always unaware of the full story, this raises questions that are only answered towards the end.  After watching pretty little liars I felt that this was quite effective as it made the viewers want to continue to watch is as they are curious to whom the antagonist is. So we included the idea of revealing which character is at fault towards the end of the film.

We were able to keep the audience engaged by showing a contrast between love and hate. In the first shot we see the main character holding a photograph of her friend while a sad background music is being played. This straight away communicates to the audience that the character is sad and is missing her best friend. However the last few shots we see an opaque layer of the character tearing the picture. In this shot emotions of anger and hatred is portrayed to the audience. The contrast in mood and emotions create by these two shots help represents the character’s mental state and her messed up thoughts.

After completing the film opening we let our target audience watch it and comment their thoughts and whether they like it or not. We also let a boy watch it as well because we wanted to see if boys would like it and see whether there is a potential to target our film to boys as well or not.

DISTRIBUTION METHODS

To begin with, Our first plan is to distribute our film locally in Thailand. A very well known Production company that produces horror films in Thailand is GTH. This production company has produced films like “Pee Mak”, “Shutter” and “The Swimmers”. These three films have been successful in engaging with teenage audiences.

For international distribution, we started by researching different production companies and after analysing each one’s suitability we came to the decision that we'll be using Lionsgate. We thought that lionsgate would most suit our film because it is well known for producing Horror Thrillers in the past like "saw, cabin in the woods and sinister". Also the introduction does not give off a "friendly" vibe like "universal pictures" or "dreamworks". Instead the introductions of Lionsgate helps set an eerie atmosphere and build a tense mood. Another reason why we picked “Lionsgate” to produce and distribute our film is because that It is a very well known production company that has several links to distribution companies. Also, Lionsgate  is known to have produced an award winning Thriller called “Crash” in the past.

We believe that the films potential of being a success with be higher if we release the film during October. This is because it will be close to Halloween which is the time where people are most interested in watching horror films. Also, since our film is about killing, revenge and psychopaths it would be a perfect fit for Halloween. We plan on distributing the film locally first, perhaps early October as an experimentation to see what people think about the film. So that we can evaluate its potential of success if we were to distribute it globally. If the film becomes a success we will distribute the film globally during the week of halloween.

However, before distributing we will have to raise awareness of the film to our target audience. Since our target audience are teenagers we decided to market our product through different pages on various social networking platforms such as "Twitter", "Facebook", and "Instagram". We will show exclusive behinds the scenes footage to our audience and release teaser trailers. For example, GTH has a facebook and instagram page with over 3 million followers on facebook and 150k on instagram. After releasing teaser trailers and informing our target audience about our film we will be releasing a trailer in September, a month before we release it to the cinemas.

Furthermore, If we plan on distributing globally we will upload our marketing footage to popular online broadcasting services such as "Youtube" and "Dailymotion", this allows us to save expenses as these services are free and easily make our audience aware of our project. To raise awareness globally even further, we will screen our film at horror film festivals in order to gain recognition and get chances of winning an award. If by any means, we end up winning an award this will help increase awareness of the film and potential broaden our customer base. Since the majority want to see an award winning film. Film festivals that we plan to submit to include “Screamfest, Sitges Int. Fantastic film festival of Catalonia and Shriek fest”

Ev 3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

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At the beginning of this project I did not have much knowledge on codes and conventions that is why I scored myself a 2/10 . However after a few classes I learnt that ‘conventions are the generally accepted way of doing things. Conventions is what the audiences expect to see’  My initial idea for this project was to create a film with the sub genre of supernatural thriller. After deciding this I drew a mind map for the conventions from supernatural horror films like  “The Evil Dead” and “Cabin in the Woods” and decided that from these horror films audiences can expect to see death, jumpscares, an Isolated house, and a supernatural figure. Therefore I applied all these conventions to the the opening of my film. For example, the supernatural figure which is shown towards the end of the clip. I also learnt that codes are a system of signs that create meaning. There are two types; symbolic codes and technical codes. Symbolic codes include acting, props, and language. Since we are filming in Thailand we wanted to create an environment that would realistically portray Bangkok’s atmosphere. We achieved this through using symbolic codes. For example, we decided to film at a market, a bus and let the character wear thai uniform in order to create a believable representation of bangkok. While for technical codes, this includes sound, lighting, camera and editing which I experimented on using adobe premiere later on in the project. I explored how I used these conventions in my response to question 1.

I believe that there has been a small improvement for my planning and organisation skills. This is because I feel that I have been organised with the project from the beginning. However blogger has helped me improve my skills as it has allowed me keep track of my progress and plan and schedule future events. For example, the picture shows 2 occasions where I used blogger to create a plan for the filming day and list down all the due dates for each objective. For the filming day schedule I made sure to include an hour for traffic. This was because we were filming at 2 different locations and therefore we had to travel a lot. On the day we found that there was not much traffic and therefore we were on schedule and managed to finish filming at 4pm rather than 5pm. In addition, for the due date schedule I made sure  to set a task each week. I refered to this schedule and edited it quite often as some tasks were completed earlier than predicted. Overall, I was able to stick to the due dates and complete my coursework during the first week of february.

My Camera work skills have improved as well but like Planning and Organisation skills it has not improved that dramatically. This is because I already had a good understanding about Camerawork after taking an external photography lesson. However In class I learnt about other elements of cinematography like shaky cam, pan shots and did an analysis on different shot types. I did this for the film “Heat”. This helped improve my understanding for each shot type and realise the deeper meaning for it. For example, I learnt that a low angle shot makes the character look more dominant and give them power as their figure immediately appears more intimidating. In addition, to improve my camera skills further I watched a thai horror film called “Take me home” The opening of this scene shows a pan shot of picture frames and displays the credits beside it. I really liked this idea and decided to apply it to the opening scene of my film as well. The picture shows my own interpretation of the pan shot create in the movie. Also, for this project I made sure to include a variety of different shot types like for example, close ups, mid shot and tracking shots

Like my visual effects skills, my editing skills have improved dramatically as well. At the start of this project I only knew how to edit videos on Imovie, that is why I scored myself a 3. But later on in class we were introduced to a software called Adobe Premiere Pro. Like for after effects I also looked at several tutorials online on how to use premiere. Once i had the basic knowledge on how to use it I tried experimenting with premiere by creating a short clip on “psychological thriller”. From then I wanted to expand my knowledge and improve my skills and technique so I tried experimenting with green screen, creating layers and colour grading. For example the picture shows how I’ve colour graded each clip decreasing the temperature because I felt that this would create a cold, lonely and sad atmosphere. Also for the layers I did this because it helped reveal the two characters’ relationship.