Media Film Evaluation

Media Film Evaluation

In this evaluation, I will be examining the ways in which I feel my group was successful in creating our opening to a thriller. I will also be looking at aspects that could've been done better, and giving a general overview of the project.

From the start, we tried hard to convey certain forms and conventions seen commonly in media, whilst staying away from others. From day one we wanted to avoid the very cliche 'horror thriller' scenario. Instead, we took a different approach, giving our production a more 'urban' feel, we decided to focus on grabbing the audiences attention through mystery, rather than suspense.

Another focus of ours was to maintain a broad audience appeal, whilst we decided to focus slightly on a younger audience, it was important to us that the film be accessible to a wide range of ages, genders, races and classes. Using both a male and female lead was one way we attempted to convey this. We also played on popular stereotypes, such as using a vulnerable woman as the 'victim', and a hooded male as the main 'villain'.

Our film seems to contain characteristics often found in less well known areas of the media. Whilst still being able to maintain a solid fan base, we did not intend for our thriller to be shown as a 'big Hollywood blockbuster', rather, more suited towards a smaller 'cult' following. More obvious reasons for this choice were around budget, ie. we would be able to produce the film without too many financial worries. Costs aside however, we also felt that on a more personal level we would rather create a more middle sized project, a main reason being that we would be more freely able to decide which direction we wanted to take things, without obsessing over what would pull in the most sales at the box office.

A typical audience member would most likely be between the ages of 15-29, focused away from the mainstream. I can visualize the rest of the thriller as ending up fairly complicated, so viewers should be able to stay focused for a fairly long stretch of time. As far as marketing goes, we would probably try to aim our media campaign at a middle/upper class, although this would in no way prevent others from taking enjoyment from it.

Our marketing campaign would most likely be directed specifically towards our target audience, so, rather than having random billboards or mainstream adverts, we would mix advertisement in with magazines popular with our target audience, or perhaps at the beginning of a DVD that mirrors our genre. Another big intention would be to use the Internet as a medium to advertise through - as long as we were careful, selecting exactly how to reach our target audience, while maintaining a fairly low cost would be easy. Using these techniques, advertising is cheaper, and is directed instantly towards who we will be aiming our thriller at anyway. Of coarse, advertising this way, whilst cost-effective, carries with it downsides; we would potentially be inadvertently cutting out what might have ended up as a significant portion of our audience by approaching advertising in a selective manner. In the end though, despite the risks, I believe that we would ultimately end up saving more money than we would otherwise make.

Throughout this element of coursework, I have learnt a lot about both the filming, editing processes, and even quite a bit surrounding Internet media. For example, I was previously unaware of how widely used 'blogger' is, having never really dealt with it before. I feel it is safe to say that I was able to learn the most whilst editing - having never before dealt with Final Cut pro, or any sort of editing software really, my eyes were opened as to how much can be accomplished simply in the editing stage, and also to how time consuming it could be. Interestingly enough, editing was also the part of production I most enjoyed, I think partly because I seemed to be constantly learning new techniques to experiment with; ironically, there were points where this set me back in a way; I almost found myself veering off my task on several occasions, simply because I ended up getting carried away with all the effects and functions available.

Looking back at my first exercise with filming, I feel I have learnt a great deal about how to convey subtle elements through clever techniques. I realize now the necessity for good camera work, but also the sheer amount of work that needs to go into editing all the footage captured. I find myself frequently watching television as I normally would have, only continuously identifying different elements of camera work and editing, I enjoy this, as I feel it helps me identify a lot more with what I am watching, and also allows me to appreciate the work that is put in to produce even the most common and simple shows. If we had more time, I would have liked to be able to gain permission to film at an underground train station, and also perhaps pay a little more attention to the editing process.