Evaluation (Part 1)

1) In what ways does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Thriller conventions:

In my thriller film I have included:

'A crime at the core of the narrative'

The crime in my thriller being murder.

'Themes of voyeurism'

As the murderer before hand follows Billy and Shelby, and also spies on them.

'Titles often reflect an aspect of the protagonist/antagonist's psychological state'

The titles are very jolty, and reflect the unstable state of the murderer, as often, people who murder have been hurt or are insane, and this is reflected in the titles

We decided it would be best not to include too many of the conventions, as it is only a film opening, and so if many more were included it may of become confusing to the audience as there is too much happening at once.

Final bits of filming and editing

Following the first draft, and deciding what to add and change, we went out for film the last few parts.

We decided to make it a little more obvious that the main characters were being stalked. We went back to the wooded area where we filmed 'The park scene' and more clearly showed me, the murderer hiding in the tree watching Billy and Shelby. We had to re film his as after we decided to re order the film, and make parts black and white, you could no longer see the murderer hiding in the tree. We decided to make it more clear, and actually have the murderer lean and peer out of the tree after Billy and Shelby walked past.

Next we went back to Billy's house, and filmed him typing again. We filmed a long shot of him typing, to give more of a range of shots. We also re filmed the reaction shots of Billy recieving the message, as the old shots were clearly filmed in a different location.

We then decided to film the murderer peering through the window, as well as them following Billy home. We filmed Billy walking, and as he got to his door, me, the murderer, peered round the corner to show they had followed him home.

We will edit the final bits in over the next few days.

First draft of the our thriller film

There are a few things we need to change about out thriller film. Firstly, is some of the editing. The scenes that are in black and white would probably look best if they were silent, with soft music playing in the background. With the reaction shots, it doesn't look like it is the same room, and so it would be better if we was to re film these shots in the actual rooms again. Also, it is a little unclear how cyberbullying, the main idea of our film, fits in. This is because a message is sent, and then a murderer comes, there isn't really a real reason the audience can see why there would be murderer. To over come this, we should film more memories of Billy and Shelby talking with me, the murderer, in the background looking angry/jealous to get it across clearly why the murderer was forced into murder. It may also be better if there was sound during the 'Sent' title, like typing noises as it appears, and maybe something when it flickers.

The majority of the film is done, all that needs to be done is a little bit of tweaking with it.

Re-editing the film

After editing our film, we watched it over, and decided it was unclear of what was going on. There was also no suspense, which is a key element of the thriller genre.

Due to this, we decided to change the film. Rather than have 3 separate clear scenes, we decided to intertwine them. The main part of the movie will be Billy and Shelby on webcam, with the 'park' scene and 'party' scene slotted between in black and white, as memories. While they are talking to each other, they are remembering how they met, and what happened earlier that day.

By re-ordering it in this way, its clear what is happening now, and what happened before. It also sets up the film as being nice and loving, until we get to the message being 'sent' to Billy, which is followed by Shelby, and then Billy being murdered. By doing it this way, we lure the audience into a false sense of security first, so when the murder goes take place, its more unexpected.

More editing

We continued to edit our film today in lesson.

We have nearly editied the whole movie now.

Filming the 'party' scene

Today we filmed the part scene.

We went to Billy's house again to film, as it was the closest to the school, and so we wasted less time traveling, and had more time to film.

Due to us having to cancel filming last week, many of the people who were to be our extras couldn't make it this week, and so the party turned into gathering. This however doesn't effect the film too much, as we could still get the main part of the party scene in, which was where Billy and Shelby first met.

Filming cancelled

Today we was meant to film the party scene of out thiller movie, but our main actress,Shelby, was ill, and so we couldn't. Due to this, we will film the scene next week.

In the mean time, we will continue to edit the footage we have, and leave a space for the party seen to be included later.