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

Our opening sequence changes the contentions of a typical conventional thriller because of it starting with what was meant to be at the middle of our film. This shows we are opposing from an ordinary thriller film. Most thrillers start the film using the start of the storyline but our method seemed to be a way to engage with the audience due to my results found out in audience feedback. We also had a jump cut to confuse the audience but also make them want to watch more, almost like a cliff-hanger. And from my questionnaire research I found that a number of people that answered our questions said they prefer a cliff-hanger, this is the reason why we had tried something new with our opening sequence.

‘The dark-side’ is a horror and psychological thriller based on the influence films such as ‘Halloween’, ‘The Blair witch project’ and also ‘Texas chainsaw’. Our film is unique because it isn’t in chronological order with beginning, middle and end. My feedback towards the finished film was positive and commented on the fact that it was different; however there were some pointers that we could have improved on such as the editing and lack of close-ups that should have created more claustrophobic and tensed atmospheres.

We used loud but thrilling non-diegetic sound track to create a frightening yet confusing atmosphere. We used other diegetic sounds such as panting,

heartbeat and screams. All these sound tracks help create a thrilling opening sequence. Both the sound track and editing was non-continuous and elliptical to show it’s not following thriller conventions; this creates more tension for the audience and allows them to be interest within the action occurring in the screen. Our use of camera movements such as panning, long shots and mid-shots were extremely effective in the audience’s opinion, we used a verity of different shots which allowed the audience to engage more.

The first shot in our sequence is a long shot of Lara Boon running through the woods; we used this shot first because it is very effective because it ensures the audiences are involved as they are curious to know what is taking place. And after the title there is a extreme close-up which captures the audience’s attention, because the woman that was being chased in the woods is being revealed, this shot is later followed by a long shot of Lara on the phone extremely angry which suggests it’s her.

2) How does your media project present particular social groups?

The main actress who we chose to cast in our production was an actress which we thought related to our ideal business woman and had to be venerable at times. The actress who was a tall, slim female with blonde hair appealed to male target audiences due to her fitness. She also appealed to female target audience by having that strong business female role, but most importantly she fitted the role of venerability because of her blonde hair and the stereotypical ‘air headed blonds’.

Venerable Business woman

We have portrayed our main female character as second class business woman; you can see this by her costume. The black blazer, casual top, black trousers and black heals suggest she is a simple yet formal, it also gives her authority and confidence. However this is different to when she is venerable this is yet again seen through her costume, hair and make-up. The ripped tights and no shoes suggest her weakness. The use of our atypical contrasting character challenges the 'norm' and conventions of a typical thriller. It gives the audience something to take on.

As our project is very much controversial and targeted to 15+ audience I believe that it would be viewed by many of different social groups.

3) What kind of media distribution might distribute your product and why?

Our thriller film is very much thrilling and could reach some of the intended target audience. However the distribution we choose ‘Universal’ is known for distributing Horror, crime etc thrillers such as ‘40 days and 40 nights’, ‘Psycho’ etc. According to my research we thought that if ‘Universal’ distribute our film we could engage with viewers all over the world because of ‘Universal’ being well acknowledged.

Although our product is obviously on a big- budget we thought to show our films on ‘British’ channels after it’s been realised in cinemas

4) Who would be the audience for your media project?

As a group we decided that our target audience would be any sex, gender and ethnicity, ages of 15 and over, although we did not discriminate, I believe this film would be more enjoyable for those who do not have any conditions e.g. heart attaches. Females might however find the movie more interesting than males, as it obviously follows a woman who is in a high status and a good role of being a protagonist. This would break social conventions of a stereotypical thriller. Some male viewers might find it interesting due to the features of the female or the fact that it’s not the same old typical thriller were a male is playing the lead role or as the protagonist.

The certificate of our film is (15), our research on certificates found that it is this group of young people who would find jumpy, psychologically challenging movies more interesting and as there is strong language, violence and flashing scenes. The final target age audience was not decided among the group until the questionnaire results came back. Judging by the results the most common films watched and preferred are certificate of (15)

5) How did you attract/address your particular audience?

We were able to attract our audience by opening with a chase sequence. The reason for that is because our character is a female who is attractive, running

through woods in a disserted area looking distressed. The audience after seeing this automatically feel sympathy for her and want to know how she got there.

Using the information gathered through our various interviews and questionnaires, we had established what people did and did not like. By using a familiar filming ground and characters which our target audience would be relate to, we were able to make a connection with our viewers. Social networks like facebook, MySpace and twitter would be our first option as these are very popular amongst the audience which we are trying to reach, which happen to be 15 and over.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Our preliminary task is where we all first learnt about the different types of technologies used within the media environment, things such as our camera (Canon GL-2), editing (Pro/final cut-Pro) and sound loading on (Sony recorders).

Using our camera quite difficult due to the weather conditions, heavy rain and muddy grass made it a struggle to film our first part of filming. We resolved this technical difficulty by using an umbrella and using a tripod that dug in to the ground to keep the camera from moving. We also used Sony recorders to create the heavy breathing to make the opening sequence more interesting.

In using final cut-Pro I have learnt how to edit sound in, capture footage, add titles and effect. I also learnt how to import other files that were needed to create the ultimate opening sequence. However I found it difficult importing the pre-recorded sound, e.g. heavy breathing, but with a bit of help from my teacher I had done it and now know how to import it in the future.