The unnamed male protagonist (played by Sam) has a psychological issue where he believes that for every positive deed he does he has to maintain the balance by conducting an equal negative deed. It was from this we thought of the title ‘Parity’ meaning balance. When it comes to the negative dead his alter ego takes over and consequently he loses all control and once finnished is left to clear up the mess and face the consequences.
The title was not decided until part way through editing. Once we had the idea for the plot and the sense of balance that was being created through the plot we decided we need a title to reflect this. 'Parity' was an idea of Sams and after discussing this with the group through an e-mail (shown below) the title was decided.
Feedback
After editing our thriller we thought that we should receive feedback on the final product. Obtaining feedback would then help us to analyse and evaluate the thriller in more detail as well as make any changes deemed necessary.
Firstly we showed our thriller to our class and Mr Silverwood for feedback from our peers. Mr Silverwood thought that it was good but we should perhaps continue a little longer. After discussion with the rest of the group we decided that we would leave the clip as the current finnish portrayred the suspense and tension, the main characteristic of the thriller genre.
We then decided to post the video onto youtube. This would then target a much wider audience this meant a much wider range of feedback especially from people we don't know, who could review and give any necessary feedback.
This picture shows the actual comments receieved off youtube. The majority of the feedback is positive. This positive feedback helps to show the strength of our thriller opening. However contstructive criticsm is just as important as positive feedback. One comment states that Adam, the murdered character, moves his head slightly in one scene where he is being moved. This is something we should consider when next filming in order to improve on our efforts.
Thriller Evaluation
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The particular social class which we based our thriller on was the upper class. Our thriller represented the type of people who had a comfortable living and who also had sufficient amounts of disposable income. The mise-en-scene in the thriller shows the class, with the use of public toilets being hygienic and clean and the choice of dress. Both murderer and victim were dressed formal by wearing suits to show they were at a higher class party. The usual stereotype of lower class mainly murder is also questioned with the murderer in this scenario coming from a more upper class background.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When creating our film we based a lot of our ideas on the film 'Physco' (1960) such as the murderer cleaning up the blood with a mop. Universal studies and Paramount Pictures distributed this film, so we believe this media institution would be the ideal company to distribute ours because it is a globally known, therefore attracting a much larger audience and revenue. As our thriller contains strong violence, we would have to be careful when advertising. It would be inappropriate to advertise our product before 9pm or to advertise on children's television programmes. However, since our thriller is low budget, it makes it increasingly difficult to attract global distributors. An alternative would be to use a smaller studio such as, Filmfour, this is because they tend to show the latest independent british films, which also suits our thriller, but would lack the mainstream global success and audiences.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be aimed at people who are aged 15 and above. The reason for this is stated by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Our product would be given the rating 15+ by the BBFC, due to the reasons that the thriller would incorporate; Dangerous behaviour such as the murder with the use of a weapon which is the knife. Violence is also evident however, only for a short duration. The use of blood is also glamourised which gives the rating a 15+. Our film will be targeting both males and females, the reason for this is that the males may be able to relate to each of the characters. We also notice that the thriller genre is not everybodys cup of tea, therefore we have made the audience one who likes the thriller genre and who may also be intellectual so they can unravel the reasons behind why the killer is performing these hideous acts.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We would show advertisments on all of the major television channels such as ITV, Channel 4 and Five. However, due to the age certificate, the advertisements would be shown after the 9pm watershed to avoid any stress which may occur on younger viewers. Also due to the targeted age range, social networking sites are very popular, facebook and twitter accounts would also be activated so fans will be able to keep updated on the latest news and events which are happening related to the film. As our film 'Parity' resembles balance we would make it clear to our audience that for every good deed he does the killer balances it out with a bad deed. By having frequent flashbacks tells the audience he has a very vague memory of what he has just done. Rather than having just dialogue, using a scripted narrators voice makes the film seem more eerie/scary, therefore making the audience wanting to see more.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our Thriller opening uses many forms and conventions of the thriller genre. In general the thriller genre is one of suspense and tension, if the film thrills it can be classed as a thriller. In our opening we have created suspense using a variety of different techniques.
Sound is one of the most important factors in building suspense. Our inspiration for our thriller opening was from 'Psycho'. This was a film we watched together in class and analysed the importance of sound to the suspense of particular scenes. Similar to 'Psycho' our thriller would be no where near as tense without the soundtrack. For example the sound of the water drop twinned with the further sound effects at this point just before the main protagonist opens his eyes where the tension peaks and begins to fall again.
Editing is also an important part of creating suspense. Using short cut clips are very effective at creating suspense. This is a technique we used alot when Sam is moving the dead body. We also used a flashback in the reflection of the mirror. This is also a very short scene with fast transition which helps to add to the suspense, also with the additional sound effects this scene in particular has a high amount of tension. Another important editing technique used was altering the ambient lighting. By making it darker, and adding a blue tint, makes the scene more gloomy and overall more eerie/scary, another characteristic of thrillers.
Camera Techniques are also used to create the tension required. For example as Sam moves the body he kicks the knife away. We then position the camera at ground level, with the knife in full view, as the main protagonist is about to leave. This helps to raise suspense as the viewer is starting to wonder whether he has forgotten about the knife, something which will effect the rest of the film. This is very similar to 'Psycho' as the viewer is thinking exactly the same as the main protagonist cleans up after a murder.
Mise-En-Scene is also used to create tension. This is also very similar to our inspiration of 'Psycho' as we did not show the main protagonist commiting the murder. Instead we showed the dead body and the clearing up. Our reasons for this were that we wanted to make a thriller opening rather than a horror opening. Also the clearing up of the murder can actually be more tense than the murder itself. This is because the viewer is wondering whether the character has forgotten anything. This is also less predictable than an actual murder.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Our Preliminary Task was a short clip about our understanding of continuity. From this I have learnt a huge amount and feel that my skills have progressed dramatically. The first and main thing that I have learnt from my continuity piece was the small mistake that we made in this task. This mistake was where our actors swapped places at one point in the scene. However thanks to this mistake I have learnt the importance of continuity in order to make a successful film. I believe our final product as a result is stronger because of this mistake as we took extra care in making sure that we made no such slip up again.
I have also learnt various different camera techniques in the preliminary exercise that I used in the thriller opening. These techniques included the usage of a tripod, panning (with and without a tripod) and various different camera angles. Without conducting a preliminary exercise our thriller would have taken alot longer to produce and wouldn't have had the same proffessional feel, a comment made by a youtube user, without this practice.
The preliminary exercise also taught us the importance of planning thoroughly. We did plan our continuity piece but perhaps not in enough detail. As a result of this we planned for much longer and went into much more depth for the planning of our thriller. By conducting this planning it allowed us to set deadlines and keep track of what needed to be done. Also by extensive discussions with the whole group we managed to create a story line strong enough to make a quality thriller opening.
I believe without the continuity task our thriller opening would have not been up to the same standard that it is now. The preliminary task helped us gain valuable experience of filming and editing and these skills were then used in our final product.
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