Lola

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our aim was to attract the audience using music that gradually increased in tempo, drwing out the suspense and tension so that the audience were engaged. We also tried to use a diverse range of shot sizes and camera angles to try and avoid repitition and keep the audience interested. The face of the main actress 'Lola' was never shown fully to create a sense of enigma, and hence making the audience question who she is and what she has done. I have gathered a range of different feedback from class members as well as people who have never seen the finished piece before, in order to gain a perspective of what worked well for the thriller genre, and what aspects could have been inproved for dramatic effect. 

I found that the main positive piece of feedback was from our opening production title, that we created on Adobe After Effects. They said that it created a 'professional' feel and demonstrated skill, also because other groups didn't have opening sequences like this, it made our thriller stand out from the rest and grasped the audiences attention. Our group worked hard to make sure that our thriller looked as clean and professional as possible and I think that this 'Time Warp Entertainment' title really made our thriller appear unique from others.

Other positives were that the audience enjoyed the music used throughout as it created suspense and tension, as it built up into a crascendo. The music was unusual and therefore created a creepy and strange atmosphere adding to the thrilling nature of the piece. They also said that music wasn't to loud and overpowering which was good because it didn't take away from the thriller itself. The only criticism for the sound was that there good have been some more ambient sound. We had a small amount of ambient sound such as birds tweeting and the sound of a perfume spray, however there could have been more added throughout to create more dimension and depth in the sound. People also thought that the titles were simple yet effective and worked well, they didn't add too much horror and they didn't take away from what was happening which is important when adding titles as you don't want them to be too overpowering. Other criticisms were that we could have shown even less of the dead body in the built to build even more tension and get the audience to ask more questions, because this is only the two minute opening, we don't want to give to much away.    

I have recorded myself quoting what some of my audience said about my thriller

 

 

Evaluation Question 4

 Who would be the audience for your media product?

What certificate should our thriller be rated?

Evaluation Question 3

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

As our media product is revolved around the thriller genre, I think that a media institution that caters for that type of genre would be the best for distributing a product like ours as they would know the correct type of marketing to create a 'buzz' around our product, attracting thriller fans and even people who wouldn't typically watch thrillers. If we wanted our thriller to be distributed as more of an independent film then, a smaller media institution based in the UK would be good, especially a company that focuses more on dark, and psychological thriller films and tv series. For example, Optimum Releasing is perfect for distributing films like that, such as 'Submarine' and 'This is England'. These films are probably seen to be more quirky and artistic which I think works well with psychological thrillers and is why Optimum Releasing would know just how to market our media product effectively and bring in the targeted younger audience. The most realistic option would be a small institution that distributes low budget films and so Optimum Releasing would be the best option as they are used to distributing lower budget independent films like ours and know how to target audiences. In the opening weekend, 'This is England' grossed £207,676 in the box office, demonstrating that it wasn't a worldwide phenomenon, however the film was popular amongst certain audiences. Therefore Optimum Releasing would be a sensible company to distribute my film because it is low budget and appeals more to a niche audience.  

 

 

 

 

However if we wanted to broaden our opportunities of our media product then a larger media institution located in the UK would be a good option, as the larger media companies have better reputations when it comes to promoting and distributing films, drawing in all different types of audiences. A good example of this would be Film Four, a well known media institution that distributes films in the UK and Ireland, earning a revenue of $2.63 billion, with films ranging from action packed sci-fi's like 'Star Trek' to coming of age classics like 'Easy A'. The array of films that are distributed are so broad that any film released by them would be sure to become a hit. Film Four is partnered with Warp Entertainment where they challenge British and International films by creating new ones on a lower budget, with the intention of expanding their niche audience. Therefore even though our thriller would probably belong more with an independent media institution as it is quirky and artistic, I think that larger institutions would be able to distribute our film as a popular blockbuster. 

 

Evaluation Question 2

Evalution Question 1

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

We tried to challenge the idea that in thrillers and films in general, the focus lead is usually a man, however in recent years films have been going against this norm and have been showcasing females in protagonist and antagonist roles demonstrating how society has changed and portraying women as strong and independent. Therefore, we wanted to have a woman play a darker and more mysterious character to create interest and a contrast to the typical thriller.
To create something that really resembled a professional media product that contained elements of the thriller genre tried to make our thriller opening build in tempo, creating suspense and tension until the crescendo at the end, for the crescendo we added in the sound of a sinister laugh, to shock the audience and add a creepy atmosphere. These sinister, almost crazy style laughs are typically seen in thrillers as they tend to add a sense of mystery. The use of shot montages are often used in films especially thrillers, so we tried to do our own take of that be editing short second clips together of a girl putting on her make-up to build up pace as well as drama, in order to show as much as possible without giving too much away.

Lola Final Edit

Application of audience feedback

The main criticism from our audience feedback was that they didn't like vignette effect that we added to our second draft as it was distracting and the edges were quite blunt and so drew their attention away from the actual video. So we tried to feather out the edges of the white boarder to make it look more seamless and have resemblance to a flashback, however the vignette still looked out of place and didn't really add anything to the final piece, so we removed the effect entirely. We also took on advice from our teacher which was to space out the titles as they appeared choppy. Therefore, we dragged out the titles and added a cross dissolve so that they faded out slowly so as not to draw attention away from what was happening on the screen.

Second Draft and Vignette Effect Feedback

Lola (second draft)

How to create a Vignette Effect

We wanted to add a white vignette effect on our second draft to make the effect that this opening scene is a flashback, as it was set 1 year ago from the present. So in order to create this effect which watched a youtube video tutorial in order to help us.
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