'SHATTERED DARK'

As Media preliminary: Super Mario

Evaluation

ONE: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product

TWO: How does your medis product represent particular social groups

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

FOUR: Who would be the audience of your media product

FIVE: How did you attract your audience?

How did you attract your audience? on Prezi

SIX: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?

 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? on Prezi

SEVEN: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 

Production Diary

16^th December
Today we planned to film at our original Location, Fay Smith’s House. After setting up the camera, the lights and hiring our actress, the camera battery we had, ran out of power and with us having no spare we were forced to change the date we filmed. Which although was an annoyance, could be beneficial as Fay, who ordered hired the Camera, forgot to pick up a tripod, so a variety of shot angles could not be achieved.

Thursday 6^th January
We were set to film again today at Jessie Pope’s house (My Grandmother), After setting up the camera, I had realised that I had forgotten to pick up a tape, and so filming could not be done this night either.

Friday 7^th January
After picking up several tapes, to ensure that we would definitely film tonight, we set up at Jessie Pope’s house. We managed to get all our filming done in the space of 2 hours, however not without problems. As a member of our group selfishly decided that she would no longer attend the shoot, there was only 3 of us, including the actress (Myself and Danielle Nunnery. Fay had already indicated she had personal matters to attend to earlier that week).
       At a specific part in the narrative, when Ebony believes a person is trying to get into her house, there is violent knocking at the front door, AND at the back door, which could have been achieved had the other member of the group turned up, as she could have knocked on the back door, while Danielle knocked on the front, and I filmed the actress. Therefore we had to work around this and I feel that we did so effectively, Danielle would knock on the front door, and I would knock on the back door, and our actress would press the record button herself and then begin to act, and we could cut out what was recorded before she began to act in the editing.
            We also encountered a problem when it came to blood. As several shots required blood. We at first decided to use red food colouring, however we only had a small amount of it, and after one shot, and we ran out. I then suggested we use beetroot juice, however when this was being washed off the actresses hands for one of the last shots, or when it was poured on the floor, it looked too much like beetroot juice, being it left a pink stain. However we, at this moment in time, have yet to resolve this; however I am sure that something can be done in the editing suit. Also, we originally intended to have a shot of white sheets, covered with blood; however the location owner dismissed the idea. Therefore we had a shot of our actors’ hand covered in blood, which gave a similar effect.

Monday 10^th January
Today we managed to capture all of our footage. However there was a slight problem with the last shot where Ebony looks into the mirror and screams. As our actress wasn’t staring into the mirror the way I had envisioned first when we began filming. I stopped her by saying ‘cut’, however forgot to press the record button again to stop it. So when I pressed it again, hoping to record the right footage, it had stopped recording, which meant that the footage on the film, was of me telling the actress how I wanted her to act and blocking the scene.
                Therefore I decided that we would not capture this footage, and the last shot would be of the actors’ hand covered in blood.

Tuesday 11^th January
Today we managed to place roughly half of our captured footage in order. At first we encountered a problem with a continuation error between the transition of the shots between when Ebony scoops the tea into a teabag and when she scoops the sugar. The kettle hadn’t began to make any noise in one shot, then in the next was making a lot of noise, so it sounded like the kettle just began to rapidly boil within a split second. Therefore I managed to make the sound of the kettle fade in, making it seem that the kettle gradually came to a rapid boil.
                Also, as we had used a phone that wasn’t plugged in we would have to use sound effects, and all the sound effects that were available to us were rather old fashioned, and the phone we used was a digital one, and so it wouldn’t look realistic as this particular phone wouldn’t make such a noise. Luckily after several minutes of extensive search, I found a sound effect that sounds realistic. After adding this, in order to make it seem more realistic and to make it more believable that this phone was in fact making this noise, just before Ebony picked up the phone I cut down the sound of one of the rings, making it last for a quarter of the time, and then cutting it off as she picked it up. I also noticed that when the phone began to ring, our actress picked up the phone far too quickly, making it evident that she was ready at the phone to answer it. To make it look like the phone began to ring a small while before Ebony made it there to pick it up, I cut and copied the first few seconds of the shot, where the phone sits alone and pasted it several times before she answers the phone, creating the illusion that the phone rang for a while before Ebony answers it.

 Wednesday 12^th January
Today I and Danielle were in an exam, and Fay did not have my password and so no editing could be done today.

Friday 14^th January
Today we managed to finish placing all the shots in order. Again we encountered a problem when the actress is supposed to lock the back door due to the constant banging, however she runs to the door to quickly, so it appears she is ready at the door, and it fails to create the suspense that we intend at this point. And so, similar to the phone, cut and copy the first few seconds of the shot (just the door) and paste it a few times before she opens the door, this would also have to be done with the sound, to create the effect that someone is banging at the door for a while before she manages to lock it. After everything was in order, we decided that the beetroot did not look like blood enough and so we may lose marks. And so we changed the last few shots to black and white, as though a flash back, this way the beetroot would look a lot more like blood, and after adding the final piece of music it would add to the ambience.

Monday 17^th JanuaryToday Fay Smith looked at graphics that could be useful for the credits. We looked on the websire http://www.dafont.com/. Fay shortlisted 'American Brovado', 'Lolita scorned' and'broke'n. Fay Attempted top edit these on Fireworks before adding it to the blog, however it seemed nearly impossible and would take too much time to perfect. We decided that we would use the font 'Times New Roman on premier pro, top avoid the cliched fonts, and to reduce the time it would take. We also discussed music, we managed to cut the time limit on the final piece of music and have found 3 pieces of music that would work well for when Ebony hears a noise and could possibly make the audience jump. In editing we found certain parts that hadn’t been captured too well as there are certain shots that have one extra snapshot frame, of a different shot. We therefore deleted these and we downloaded the music and should be ready to add them next lesson.

Tuesday18^th January
Today I noticed that the last few shots, where we intend to place the credits, did not last long enough for the credit to appear on screen long enough for the audience to read. Therefore on the shot of the phone covered with blood, and the shot of the blooded floor, I copied them and pasted them twice more, to make it seem like the shot lasted longer, and so the credits would be in on screen long enough for the audience to see.

Wednesday 20^th January
Today we came to a final decision on which font we would use for the credits. After adding the music, I noticed that the non diegetic background music I added to the video had overwritten the sounds of the banging on the door and the sound of the phone ringing. So I had to spend the whole lesson re applying all the sound and sound effects. Next Lesson we should be ready to apply credits and then we should be finished.

Section 1: The Thriller Genre:

The Thriller genre is a genre which highlights films less gory and intense than a horror and presents rather more psychological themes that require intellectual engagement. The majority of the time a thriller’s narratives will focus on danger, generally in the form of murder or natural disaster, also the narrative of a thriller tends to be rather complex, and thrills the audience as they watch it.

There are different interpretations and theories as to what a Thriller movie literally is, and all thrillers will follow at least one of these theories:


The Question and Answer Model (Noel Carroll)

This theory is based on the model that when the audience is presented with a question, the film keeps them in suspense awaiting an answer. This allows the audience to feel apart of the narrative as they will solve the answer when the protagonist does.

There are two sub-factors involved in this, known as the probability factor and the Moral factor. The Probability factor focuses on the possible outcomes of the film which is a lot more exciting for the audience, hence why Carroll believes it is so important. The Moral factor highlights the fact that what the audience believe is the morally correct thing to do, may not be the actual outcome of the film, and this can cause shock.

The Transformed City (C K Chesterton)

This theory follows the basis of a seemingly ordinary urban city/town (where most thrillers are set) and, due to the events of the film, change the city into an extraordinary place.

Concealment and Protraction (Lars Ole Saurberg)

This theory entails 2 forms of suspense that can both evoke the desired emotions from the audience and thrill them. Concealment is the form of creating suspense by hiding important information from the audience, and Protraction creates suspense by delaying a suspected outcome, as the audience already has a brief idea about what will happen, but the actual event is stretched out.

The Heroic Romance (Northop Frye)

The protagonist is an ordinary person, just like the audience. With a normal life, and a normal job and a normal outlook on life, however this theory suggest that due to the change, the character must adapt. Frye believes that a protagonist in a thriller film is generally forced to react and behave in a certain, extraordinary manner to be able to survive and stated that Thrillers 'move the world in which ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended' and this allows characters to perform amazing acts and survive.

Partial Vision (Pascal Bonitzer)

 This theory follows the idea that what the audience cannot physically see in a thriller film, such as subtle hints about what is actually occurring, is just an important as the points they do see. When you can't actually see or guess what is going to happen in the thriller, it makes the audience want to follow the 'maze' like structure to see if the main character is able to figure this information out for themselves, for example, if we already knew the identity of a murderer, then the film would be less of a surprise and less suspense would be formed, giving the thriller less impact.

Mazes and Labyrinths (W H Matthews)

These theories origins originate from the Ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The theory is that the protagonist must pass through a ‘maze’ to reach a final outcome, due to the quandary of their circumstances.

 The literal dead ends and twists and turns of a maze is a metaphor for the narrative of Thrillers that follow this theory, that anything can happen, at any time and it cannot be expected. Certain films, such as The Shining or The Descent Contain Literal locations which present a kind of maze in where the character are easily lost, mirroring the narrative.

The Exotic (John Cawelti)

This theory revolves around the belief that objects, locations and buildings found in the thriller film, are far from realistic, and would not be found in an ordinary everyday life. It isn't atypical in Thrillers for props to have originated from the Middle East and these supplies the film with the sense of fault and diversity. The existence of a foreign object in a film provides the audience with further knowledge that the film is set in a completely different reality.

Section 2: Research into examples of comparable products (MISERY)

Misery is a 1990 American psychological thriller film, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes. Bates won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe. The film was ranked #12 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments

Narrative structure

• Paul Sheldon is the first character to be presented to us, this gives us an indication that he is perhaps the protagonist, and this confirmed when we follow him through the car crash and as he is listening to fun and upbeat music. We are also made aware of the fact that Paul is a writer as we are shown him using a typewriter.
• The only other character that is presented to us is Annie Wilkes who saves Paul from the crash, suggesting that she is also a protagonist, which creates the chance for a red herring when Annie becomes the Antagonist later in the film.

Mis-en-scene

• As the film begins it cuts to several CU shots of items (Cigarette and match, champagne flute, Champagne bottle) with Paul Sheldon typing out of focus behind the item. This displays the item as an item of importance, and it is only later we realise the importance of the items, that it is tradition for Paul to Drink that specific brand of champagne and to smoke after he finishes a novel. Also with Paul in the background typing, it gives the audience a clar indication that he is a writer.
   
• After Paul has torn his finished page from the type writer, we see a MCU of Paul analysing the page very carefully. This suggests that Paul is a very analytical character and is of intelligence, could become useful later in the film.
• When Paul assembles all his pages together and holds them in front of him, the camera cuts to a CU of the pages reading “UNTITLED: by Paul Sheldon” This suggest that Paul is also a very uncertain or unconfident character, which may impact his fate later in the film.
  

Sound

• As the film starts, only the direct diegetic sound of Paul typing on his type writer can be heard over the silence, creating the sense of his aloneness and vulnerability.
• After Paul has finished typing, non-diegetic, slow, high pitched piano music begins to play and the beats get closer and closer together, suggesting that someone or something dangerous and eerie is creeping closer to Paul.
• In the car, the Diegetic sound of Paul’s car radio is heard. The song is rather upbeat and loud, perhaps mirroring Paul Sheldon’s personality and traits.
• When the car crashes, the music stops and we are left with the direct sound of the wind and snow, giving the audience time to reflect on what has just happened

Camera work & editing

• When Paul is driving, we are shown several POV shots from the driver’s seat. This places us in the characters shoes and indicates that he is to be a protagonist and that we are to follow him throughout the film, and are going to experience similar things. By putting the audience in Paul’s position, it creates a more dramatic impact when he suffers torture and torment and we feel we suffer them with him.
• We are shown several XLS that pan across the snowy mountain sides. This creates a sense of isolation, as Paul is in the middle of nowhere and so no one is ready to help when he crashes, or when he is kept prisoner by Annie. Also, emphasis is made on the snow with the XLS and the CU/ECU of the car wheels on the snow/ice. This foreshadows the crash and the audience can sense approaching danger. This creates a rather tense atmosphere before any drama has occurred.

Editing

• When Paul is in the Cabin writing, the cutting between shots is rather slow. This creates the calm and collected atmosphere of Paul as a writer, however when he is in the car, accompanied with the music, a joyous and exciting atmosphere is created with the fast cutting between shots., again mirroring the atmosphere. Also, when the car crashes the cutting speed is rather high, creating a fast paced and frightful atmosphere.

Graphics

• The graphics at the beginning of the film are red, connoting danger and death. However this could also connote Love, expressed in Annie’s love for Paul Sheldon and his work
  

Codes and Conventions

• The film uses resourceful characters as seen in Paul and Buster. Paul Sheldon manages to collect the powder from his Novril and attempts to drug Annie, he also uses a hair clip as a key to escape his room and manages to roam the house and get to his room in time before Annie suspects anything. Buster also manages to solve the whereabouts of Paul via newspaper clippings and reading Paul’s novels.
• The film follows the Partial Vision theory as at the start of the film we believe Annie to be a protagonist as she helps Paul from the car crash and nurses him back to consciousness. However it isn’t later until we realise Annie’s true intentions and that she had no intention of phoning for help once she had rescued Paul.

Section 2: Research into examples of comparable products (FATAL ATTRACTION)

Fatal Attraction is a 1987 American thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer. The film follows Dan,A married man, who has a weekend affair with a his co-worker, Alex Forrest, who refuses to allow it to end and will resort to any measure in order to keep him. The film was the 2^nd highest grossing film of 1987 and earned 6 academy award nominations, including best picture and best actress for Glenn Close.

The film is most memorable for the particular death scene of a rodent, and coined the popular phrase ‘Bunny Boiler’.

Narrative Structure

At the start of the film, we are shown a very ahppy and domestic family household. Dan appears to be a family man, devoted to his wife and child. They live in a rather small house, and this appears to only strengthen their family bond. However Whilst at the party, where we meet Alex,  it is clear that an ambience changes, Dan seems to only talk to and touch one woman, his wife. However Alex is the only other woman he touches, this presents a disturbance in the Equilibrium and perhaps forshadows Alex’s threat over Dan’s Marriage.

Mis-en-Scene

• As the film starts, we see an XLS of New York City on a backdrop of a sunset sky. This creates a distinctly cleardivide between the urban civilisation and the sky. This could be symbolic of The distinct differnce between Dan’s married life, and his life with Alex, or perhaps signal the difference between reality and fantasy. Also, the subset is a visual metaphor for and end, or a change. Perhaps forshadowing the change that will occur in Dan’s ‘perfect’ family life. Also, the colour of the sky, orange, connotes warmth, mirroring the warmth of the family atmosphere Dan shares with his wife and child.
  
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  When the scene in Dan’s flat begins, we get an immediate sense that thie family is close, as they’re laughing and joking together, and appear to be the average evryday family, with Dan asking his wife where his suit is, and their little girl bieng diciplined for foiling her mother’s make-up.
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  In the party scene, there is always a number of people in the shot, giving us the sense of a large close gathering, and that anyone at any point could appear (Alex)
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  Also, Alex Forrest’s character is not hidden from us before she and Dan meet. We have several shots with her in the background, this suggests that she appears to be an average, normal member of society and not an antagonist, this is how how Dan percieves her at first. With the audience and Dan making the same interpretations of Alex, it is more devestating when we realise her true nature.
  
• Also, Alex and Dan's wife wear the same colour in the party sequence. This suggest that they are both similar in certain respects, and that Dan would be just as happy married to Alex, than he would his wife. Also, the colour black connotes death and misery, and this suggests that one, or both of these characters will experience such connotations.

Camera Work

• Whilst at Dan’s home, the camera angles are relitively low or waist hieght, and the acmera moves rather slowly, and cuts from shot to shot at a slow pace. However when at the party, the camera angles are highere and cut and move faster. This creates the sense of amtmosphere and excitement when at the party, suggesting that feels the wild atmosphere of the party more enjoyable than at home, foreshadowing his affair with Alex, as he prefers the wildness and unpredictability of an affair.
• When Dan and Alex meet, the camera stays in one position throughout there conversation, this could suggest that Alex has Dan trapped from the moment they meet.

Sound

• As the film begins, and the establishing shot is shown, we hear the direct diegetic sound of traffic. This sets the scene for the movie, and establishes where the movie is sat, also the fact that the city has traffic, suggest mayhem, mirroring Dan and Alex’s relationship.
• Also, when Dan is listening to music via headphones, the phone rings and he doesn’t hear. This foreshadows certain events, as after Dan has informed Alex that he wants to end the affair, she rings the house several times, and only his wife answers. In this scene, only Dan’s wife and daughter hear the phone. This mirrors the effect the phone has later in the film when Alex calls the house, as Dan will not be effected if he were to answer the phone, however should His wife or daughter answer, then they would be deeply effected.
• When at the party, we hear the diegetic sound of all the people at the part talking, this creates the hectic atmosphere of the party.

Graphics

As the film begins, we see the cast members and the name of the film in a white lock capital font on a black background. These 2 opposite colours suggest an opposite in Dan and Alex’s relationship, that the 2 contrast one another. Also, Black and white are very Gothic colours, suggesting darkness throughout the film.