Evaluation - Rachel

1. How did our media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

• We used a range of techniques and conventions to create a media text applicable to the thriller genre, including a range of appropriate elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography, narrative structure and iconography.

• We used restricted narration to create an element of mystery and build tension. The audience does not know where the mother has gone or if she will come back, thus raising questions to answered later in the film, making the audience want to watch on.

• The way the antagonist is introduced is unrevealing in the way that it does not show his identity. This was done by framing the antagonist so that his face was not shown throughout the sequence, by filming him with CU and MCU shots of body parts like his hands, feet or simply giving the impression of another character such as the movement of a shadow.

• The use of cross cutting builds suspense along with the tense music, communicating that the antagonist has some sort on intention relating to the child and this created tension as we could see that the child was unaware from the use of CU shots of his facial expressions; calm and playful, including the point of view shot of him swinging his feet.


• Our location gave the impression that the two characters, a young boy and his mother, were in a fairly isolated place; the location changes from open countryside to an enclosed underground car park which gives a sense of entrapment, a common feature in a lot of thriller films such as "Panic Room", 2002, David Fincher.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• The Mother: We have represented a single mother with her young child; the fact that she is on her own makes her seem more vulnerable and we might feel more sorry for her that she is alone. We chose to have a mother and her child, rather than a father or older brother or sister as the relationship is typically an identifiably closer one with a stronger bond and it is publicly feared more by mothers that this bond could be broken. Thrillers that represent the mother/child bond are 'Panic Room', 'Flight Plan', 'The Ring' (within the horror/thriller hybrid genre).
• The Stranger: We have also represented a young man that appears to be alone and who is probably some sort of social reject; we see this from his dark clothes and from the way the camera hides his face not only adds suspense, but also could hint at the fact that he does not want to be seen. His clothes are dark which have sinister connotations and he is represented with only dark shadows and CU's of his hands or feet, a similar way of introducing a character to the way that the antagonist in 'Se7en' is introduced; not by showing who this character is but hinting at his type of character.
• The Child: When he is left alone in the car it shows how vulnerable he is, as typically children have very little power against adults and we showed how vulnerable and unaware of the potential danger he is in from the ELS of the car. This shot shows how enclosed his surroundings are and that he is isolated from any help and the subjective use of camera-work when we see him swinging his feet and watch the trees going past out the car window from his point of view - this sets him up as an innocent, playful and naive young child who will be helpless under attack.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

• A film distribution company would distribute my film around nationally to lower the costs but would also be distributed digitally as well as in poster, advertisement, trailer formats on television, in cinema and in newspapers and magazines so that it could reach a broader target market.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

• Male and female, ages 15+ as thrillers commonly have a lot of violent scenes in the film and this is unsuitable for young children to view. The most common certificate for thrillers is either 15 or 18.
• Our audience is both male and female, as thrillers are appealing to both sexes and we want to keep our target audience as broad as possible.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

• We attracted our audience by making our thriller look exciting with the range of shot distances/angles and movement as well as some eerie, captivating music.
• We included relevant themes and issues such as abduction of young children, as this is something that women will be able to relate to - leaving children alone and coming back to find their child is missing because they forgot to simply lock the door is horrifying and this will make the plot seem more realistic.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of creating this product?

• Use of sound, replacing recorded sounds from the camera footage with sound effects found on garage band. However, the music was not received from our audience well and it was said that it was far too repeptitive and, inconsistent and went on for too long. Perhaps if we were to do it again, we would fade it out at the end and create more of a bridge between the introducing music and the tense music at the scene in the car.
• We used a redhead light to try and create a darker and more defined shadow of the antagonist although it could have been stronger.
• We learned how to use a dolly and a hand-held steady-cam for the shots in the car which made the camera much more stable.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

• Since the preliminary task, i feel that we have developed a knowledge of how to apply more tension into the sequence and how sound effects can be used.
• I feel that our skills with the camera have increased and our match-on-action editing skills have become more professional and accurate in the way that it is not noticeable.
• We realised how important costume, characterisation and mise-en-scene is; we made sure that our antagonist wore dark colours and that our location and costume had as few bright colours as possible to add to the dark atmosphere of the film. We built closer relationships with the characters with more CU shots and Point of view shots to make the audience feel more intimate with them.
• We kept the idea of keeping the identity of some characters a mystery as we felt that this was successful in building up tension or adding mystery and making the audience feel inclined to watch on.