Thriller Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My research into the thriller genre helped me decide what sub-genre to base my thriller “Obliquity” in, which location to film it in and what kind of characters and camera angles to include in the narrative structure. After researching thriller films from the first half of the 20th century, I decided that I wanted to create a thriller in which glamour and fear coexist together suggesting the classic 1940’s noir thriller aesthetic. I believe the largest influence on my media product was “the Third Man” which encompassed everything that I wanted to portray in my film; a glamourous location (similar to the medieval streets of Norwich) with elegant characters (some of who had alter egos, such as Harry Lime, who gave the film a vicious, mischievous edge) and oblique camera angles like those used in the final chase of the motion picture. In “Obliquity” the shot of Harold Mardel in a doorway with a ghostly white light upon his face echoes the iconic shot of Harry Lime in a doorway on the streets of post-war Vienna as a passing car lights his face. The soundtrack of my product evokes the tensions that are created in the 1960 classic thriller “Psycho” by Hitchcock, using classical strings that crescendo several times during the two minutes. It also supports the glamorous character Sylvia Rose within “Obliquity” and elegant setting of the cobbled street. The limited lighting used in each location conjures up the unwelcoming darkness that is used in the beginning of thriller “Essex Boys” and throughout “Sin City” creating a suspense for the audience who cannot define what will happen next. Costumes in my product evoke those of classic noir thrillers based in the 1930’s and 40’s with the use of fur coats and glamorous pearls also used Alfred Hitchcock’s noir thriller “Lifeboat”. I decided to name my product “Obliquity” connoting Harold Mardel’s immorality and mental perversity and the oblique angles used within it.


How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My thriller represents the villain as a dominant male character whose purpose is to intimidate the more passive protagonist that is the female character. He is represented as a shadowy menacing, predator who smokes. This references him to the character Harry Lime in the Third Man and gives him a mysterious yet sophisticated persona, that does not allow the audience to sympathise or warm to him. The female character in my thriller is not represented as a femme fatal, but a victim of a dominant man’s wrath. Her character is not deepened throughout the two minutes, instead she paints her nails, portraying her as a shallow and preoccupied with appearance. This references the contemporary obsession with appearance thus the character, though placed in a noir setting, and suggestive of a period when women were marginalised to in the thriller genre (for example in Elia Kazan’s film noir “Streetcar”) reinforces the helpless stereotyped female character, so consequently my product perpetuates traditional representations of gender. The recent Television trilogy ‘Red Riding’ also reinforces these representations of gender with female characters reduced to dead meat on a slate.



What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
“Obliquity” is an independent thriller made with little to no budget. I do not believe its narrative is particularly original as many of the ideas were taken from noir thrillers of the 1940’s. Like “Obliquity”, the structures of many of these films’ plots were built around a protagonist (Sylvia) and an antagonist (Harold). If this introduction was developed on, the antagonist would eventually lose the hold on which he/she had held over the protagonist for the film’s majority and succeed in being victorious in some way. Due to this cliched end I doubt that “Warp Films” or “Working Titles” would be interested in funding my project as it does not challenge conformities that these two industries are usually interested in, such as the early “Working Titles” release: “My Beautiful Launderette”.
I believe my thriller would not belong in a main stream, Multiplex cinema, but instead would be exhibited in a smaller, perhaps independent cinema. Larger mainstream institutions today are attracted to thrillers that can be marketed with a cast of well known actors, an award winning directors, a large budget and special effects. I am aware that my thriller does not and will not boast any of these attributes and thus under the circumstances I do not consider it would be viable. The most obvious outlet for my product is the Internet. The video media website “Youtube” is free to exhibit short films or any other type of film. Here it can be accessed by anyone from around the world on various new technologies such as Computers, iMacs, MP4 players (such as iPods) and mobile phones with internet. I am also able to exhibit my thriller on social networking sites such as “Facebook”, “Myspace”, “Bebo” and “Blogger”. As these websites are visited by millions of users everyday, they are a good free space in which people can view my thriller.
If “Obliquity” was to become successful, a television outlet would perhaps follow, being exhibited late night on film4 perhaps, or other such specialist channels that would gain a more film-educated audience.


Who would be the audience for your media product?
I feel that my thriller’s 40’s noir film edge would not be well suited to mainstream audiences and would predominantly attract either an older demographic who enjoy film noir. My thriller audience research (in which the majority of those asked were under 20 years of age) claimed to prefer violent thrillers that would need successful actors to be starred in it in order for it to be attractive to them. In support of this, those questioned did not reference classic thriller films (with the exception; Psycho) and thus my thriller would not likely attract the 15-20 demographic. I presume that the audience that would be attracted to my thriller would view noir thrillers such as “the Third Man” due to the mise-en-scene closely referencing the dark cobbled labyrinth of post-war Vienna, the villainous character of “Cody Jarrett” in noir classic “White Heat”, and also other crime thrillers on television such as “Silent Witness” or “Spooks”. Although these both have modern aspects and do not closely associate with the mise-en-scene of “Obliquity”, they are both mature thrillers, achieving dramatic effect without CGI or other special effects. I believe that female audience members could relate and sympathise with Sylvia’s situation. Male and female viewers may even be able to infer that Sylvia is a strong character who can walk away from her fears (Harold Mardel).


How did you attract/address your audience?
Fourteen audience members from ages varying between 16-19 were asked to feedback on my final product. The questions on the evaluation; “Was the film’s narrative easy to understand?” and “Is the production clearly the opening of a thriller film?” would allow me to understand whether my thriller was successful in its goals or not. Thankfully the majority of the audience selected 5/5 and from this I can infer that they have understood my intentions and have been able to read my product. Although I believe that both camera work and editing could have been achieved to a higher standard, the audience seemed to enjoy both and gave an average of 4/5 points for this aspect. Other questions such as “Would the opening inspire you to watch the rest of the film?” were answered by all fourteen audience members with “Yes”, and no viewer found any part “confusing” or “hard to understand”. I believe the mise-en-scene of locations to be a significant appeal of my product, and this could attract the audience, making them want to view more. The cliffhanger used at the end of the two minutes also could leave the viewers wanting more, with the music adding suspense to the action of the film.


What have you learnt about technologies for the process of constructing the product?
From the making of my thriller introduction I have learnt to use the digital camcorder as on the Media course’s preliminary task I acted and edited. I learnt that filming is a lengthy process and requires patience (especially for shooting in public places). I also discovered that the more footage and attempts taken the better the result will invariably be as there is a bigger selection of footage to choose from and in consequence, this makes editing easier.
In “Obliquity” I used several types camera shots and angles to create an interesting mise-en-scene. These include the tilted angles of the street as Harold Mardel follows Sylvia Rose down the wet cobbled streets, creating a sense of confusion and making the street appear as if it is coming down upon the characters. I have become aware that camera angles are vital to the film, and that a bad shot will effect the quality on a whole. This led to re-shoots of poor footage, with two attempts of filming on the cobbled street and 50% of the footage going to waste. Editing for my thriller has been considerably different to that of the preliminary continuity exercise as it needed far more transitions and effects to make a more professional and believable product. I used several “cross fades”, giving the shot transitions a dreamy feel and letting the audience become aware of what is on Sylvia Rose’s mind. Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” also uses “cross fade” frequently to achieve the same effect. The biggest decision of the editing process was whether to keep the final footage in colour or to discard this, leaving it with a classic feel in black and white, confirming the film’s noir genre. My final decision was to discard the colour after criticisms from viewers, making my product a true noir thriller. The importance of sequencing shots is incredibly important, as it allows the footage to compliment and develop the narrative.


Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task required a small plan and a limited ability to shoot with a digital “Canon” camcorder, and edit the footage with "Premiere Elements", for example regular close ups are generic thriller conventions, and thus are not needed in the preliminary task so much. Editing in the preliminary task does not need an abundance of special effects or transitions due to its simple conversational basis, though I did learn basic skills of editing in the process. I am of opinion that the thriller has needed more attention, time and effort to warrant its completion due to; planning in depth, filming in varying locations and narrating a believable story line through actors that the audience can form a short-term relationship with.
There are specific differences between the production of the thriller and the preliminary task. The thriller is much more complex as I had to; cast characters that would be able to capture the audiences attention and achieve a believable 1930’s look, find costumes and props that represent the era correctly such as a fir coat, pearls, a bowler hat and an over coat, research a variety of locations that prohibited me to film in and that again represented the era correctly, and researching un-copyrighted music that will support the tension and suspense necessary in a thriller.
Learning about working with the new technologies has been an interesting part of the process. Using a blog to replace traditional coursework methods and being submitted on the internet instead of in hard copy was beneficial. The blog being used instead of having to carry to school a large folder, full of; audience research, thriller research and thriller planning was a physical relief. Organizing on the blog is also a lot easier, with "labels" available to catagorize work accordingly. Other strengths of this technology include; teachers being able to comment on work quickly, the convenience of the blog being on the internet (allowing me to work on it when not at home or at school) and the ability to be able to upload pictures, videos and music clips onto it. Of the few weaknesses the blog had, one was the fact teachers could not go through work thoroughly for marking, with hard copies still having to be produced for this.
As I did not work within a group for my thriller, I did not experience working constructively within a group. The unreliability and eventual departure of the rest of the group during the planning resulted in original plans having to be discarded and starting again from scratch. Therefore my responsibilities included; the initial ideas, planning, casting, costume, filming and editing. I have also helped out by performing a lead character in another group’s thriller.
Audience feedback has been a insightful part of the experience of film-making. The feedback I received for “Obliquity” was better than I imagined with an average rating of 9/10 from fourteen evaluation questionnaires. The audiences responses did not offend me as luckily no negative comments were made.
I believe that my thriller possess several weaknesses including the variety of shots, and lack of comprehendible story line. If I would have included all that I planned, using several interweaving characters story lines, I believe that my thriller would have finished a further intelligent production, that would have been more impressive. I believe that the locations used, casting and costume were successful, and portrayed the late 1930’s early 1940’s effectively.
I believe that the most important aspect of making a production that I have learnt about during the filming of the thriller lies in the editing, which can turn a mediocre piece of film into a high standard of film and vice versa.