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

Camera Skills 

   In terms of camera skills, I have developed my understanding of how and why a range of camera angles are used effectively to convey meaning; such as a high angle shot being used to establish a character as small and weak. I have also developed a greater understanding of how what I have planned will translate to the audience in the final product, meaning I've gain a more precise and focused approach to making a media text. This includes the consideration of certain aspects of mise en scene as well as any inter-textual references to other media texts. Similarly, since doing the preliminary task I have explored a range of new and different technologies such as an Octocopter; exposing me to the range of different equipment that I can use to make an interesting and engaging production. The work I have done since the preliminary task has also reinforced the importance of continuity within a media text, not only to make it seem professional but also to make it easy to follow and enjoyable for the audience. It has also reinforced the importance of taking lots of shots as not only does having a number of shots and different camera angles help to make the final product much more interesting for the audience to consume; but it is also very important from the production side of things as it is a way to ensure that you will have enough shots to fill out the 'skeleton' of the production that is derived from the narrative written,  as well as being a good back up in case any unforeseen technical difficulties arise resulting in loss of footage.

Research

    One factor that I have found to be absolutely imperative in developing ideas and actually materialising a production -since completing the preliminary task- is the use of research into other media texts of a similar genre, history behind aspects of mise en scene such as locations and representation of certain social groups. Doing this has helped to improve not only the production of our media text, but has also helped to educate me further in regards to certain conventions used in genres and how the history behind a location can change the feel of a film as well as how such a location  is presented. By researching into media texts of a similar genre to our production it also helps to add to audience appeal for those who are able to recognise the inter-textual reference, further engaging and entertaining them.

Soundtrack

     Another factor that I have learnt more about since completing the preliminary task is the use of soundtrack in a media text and what effect it would create in regards to eliciting a response from the audience. Despite having prior technical knowledge of music and its uses from studying it at GCSE, in the preliminary task I didn't really take advantage of it's numerous different uses; whereas since then I have managed to reinstate how crucial it is in creating atmosphere and meaning within a production. For example, In our thriller opening 'Beach Comber' we used a minor key drone which crescendos, with the gradual layering of instrumentation to create an eerie and sinister atmosphere to unnerve and unsettle the audience. 

Cliffhanger

    With the cliffhanger being one of the most pinnacle moments within  a thriller text, it is very important to create a powerful and successful introduction to this disequilibrium within your narrative, and making sure it translates on screen just as effectively. Whilst planning and producing our thriller text, I have learnt how important it is to have a strong cliffhanger in order to intrigue you audience and make them want to watch more and find out what happens; the effectiveness of this is strengthened if you have relatable characters that the audience become emotionally invested in - making the audience want to see how they resolve this tension that has been introduced. 

Audience feedback

    Finally, one of the most valuable things I have learnt since the preliminary task is the importance of collecting audience feedback. Whilst completing the preliminary task I didn't get any feedback from peers, whereas whilst completing our thriller text 'Beach Comber' I collected audience feedback from people who fit our potential primary audience for both the rough cut and the final cut of my production. Gathering audience feedback from the rough cut was helpful as it not only highlighted what our potential audience thought was successful about the production, but also highlighted what might improve it - such things being considered whilst editing the final cut of our production.   Then getting audience feedback for our final cut of our production from our potential audience was insightful as it shows how people may react to our final product beyond this course, as well as highlighting what aspects of our production worked well and appeal to our potential audience. 

Audience feedback for the final cut of my thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

   

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Use of the blog

    I used blogger to record the process of my coursework, which is accessible and easy to use; collating all of my work in one place. I sometimes used Powerpoints to present my planning and research on my blog as it switches things up from just writing a post on the default blogger template. The use of Powerpoints not only enabled me to present my points in an interesting way, but also enabled me to keep my work concise. I also used 'direct' blog posts (default blogger template) as this enabled me to include images and video clips from YouTube to help illustrate any inter-textual references or particular references to points in our production. Similarly, I also used premier pro to make a voice over video of our aerial shot, of which I uploaded to YouTube - also helping me to present my work in an interesting and engaging way. 

An example of my use of blogger

Research and planning

    The most imperative use of technology for my research and planning was the use of the internet, for a number of different reasons. In regards to research, the use of the internet helped me expand my knowledge of thriller texts and the history around certain aspects of our thriller production, such as the fact there was a dead body that washed up in 1990 on Weybourne beach - our exterior beach location used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'. It also enabled me access to YouTube, which allowed me to review and analyse clips from other thriller texts, possibly giving inspiration for my own production as well as exposing me to a plethora of new and different media texts.

YouTube Homepage

   In regards to planning, technology such as digital cameras have enabled me to take stills of locations and characters/costumes used in our production, as well as taking practice shots for camera training as to help later on with the filming of our production in regards to what camera angles and movements we would want to use. I also used YouTube to upload a voice over video of our aerial shot that I made with another member of my group, which enabled me to further explore the use of this platform for myself - as well as presenting my work in a more interesting and engaging way. 

An example of my camera training still images on my blog

The Shoot of our production

    To produce our thriller opening we used a Nikon D90 DSLR camera, which was very easy to use and produced clear, quality sound and video - enabling us to explore the use of shallow and deep focus. The use of this camera also enabled us to review our footage as we were filming, which was extremely useful and allowed us to make quick amendments to anything we felt didn't quite work how we intended it to.

     In our production we also used an Octocopter to enable us to get some aerial shots for our production, adding interest and aesthetic appeal to our thriller text. This equipment is a fairly new technology, controlled by one remote that steers the frame of the Octocopter whilst another remote controls the camera itself harnessed onto the frame, allowing the change of camera angles. The camera then sends a live feed to a portable screen, enabling the operator to see what the Octocopter is filming. To make sure that we captured the action we wished to show in our production, we used mobile phones from the beach surface to the camera operators on top of the cliff; giving them a cue of when to fly the Octocopter over the cliff edge to catch the action from the actors on the beach surface below. This ensured that we had correct timing in order to get the shots that we wanted, adding to the appeal of our production. 

Editing 

    To edit our production we used the programme Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, a programme that I had a little bit of experience with from using it for previous productions in GCSE; which made it slightly easier to conduct. In order to give our production a more gritty tone, much like Paddy Considine's 'Tyrannosaur', we used colour correction and the adjustment of brightness and contrast to darken our shots, adding to the eerie feel of our production. 

    We also used dissolve and dip to black transitions in our production to help and create a fairly surreal and dream-like feel to the transitions between shots; juxtaposing the authenticity and realism within the actual shots from our narrative themselves. We also used the website Freesound to choose the non-diegetic sound featured in our production, and then inserted it into the 'timeline', as well as matching up the second non-diegetic piece of sound we used with the shot of our antagonist Ian Moone's face, reinforcing the importance of this shot and feature of our narrative. We then rendered the video, and it was exported and uploaded to YouTube. 

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

    Our thriller opening 'Beach Comber' attracts and appeals to it's potential audience in a number of ways, especially through aspects of mise en scene such as location and characters, as well as our use of sound; encouraging them to consume, enjoy and engage in the text.


    One way we attracted our potential audience is the use of locations in our thriller text, such as Weybourne beach in North Norfolk and a shed in an urban street in Norwich. The use of our interior location of the shed would appeal to our audience as it is a location that isn't usually that heavily featured in films of the thriller genre, instead some thrillers use locations such as garages and car parks, much like Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'. The use of a setting as common as a shed also helps to reinforce the fact that anyone could have been in the victims position, building tension within the audience as it could just as well have happened to them; as well as suggesting that it could be happening in their local area and they would never have known.

Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' (2008)

    Our exterior location of Weybourne beach would also attract our production's potential audience as a beach could be seen as a less conventional setting for a thriller, so would intrigue them and possibly influence them to look into our production; as well as the fact that our production is set during mid-day, which makes our antagonist Ian Moone seem more intimidating and threatening. Similarly, in the episode 'Trou Normand' in series 1 of 'Hannibal' a totem pole of human bodies ranging from freshly killed to decades old are found on a beach location during the day. As this popular thriller series is aimed at audiences of the same age as our potential audience, the inter-textual reference to it may encourage our target audience who recognise the similarity to consume our product. 

Totem pole from the episode 'Trou Normand' from the series 'Hannibal' (2013)

    Another way in which we attracted our potential audience is through the characters featured in our narrative. Both the antagonist Ian Moone and the victim Sam are British teenagers, meaning that our primary target audience of British teenagers/young adults would be attracted to our production as they would be able to relate with our characters as they are of the same age group and ethnicity; and therefore would be more interested and invested in our media text. Also, the costume of the characters is reflective of contemporary fashion and trends which are recognisable to the audience, allowing them to relate to the characters further. The fact that our victim Sam is a female character will help attract our primary audience of females as not only will they be able to further relate to the character, but they will also sympathise with her and therefore be more emotionally invested in the production as they will want to see how -or even if- she overcomes the issue explored within our narrative.

The victim Sam from our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

     Another way we attracted our potential audience is through the use of a linear narrative structure, a generic narrative structure that our audience would respond well to; much like that seen in David Michôd's Australian thriller 'Animal Kingdom'. This would attract our audience as a linear narrative is easy for the audience to follow as it doesn't require the audience to follow or remember aspects of the film due to  a complex narrative structure, putting less pressure on the audience and making it a fairly easy and accessible text for audiences to consume.

David Michôd's 'Animal Kingdom' (2010)

    The use of a variety of camera angles is another aspect of our thriller text that would attract our potential audience. By using a plethora of different camera angles and movements, especially in regards to our aerial shot on the exterior beach location, helps to attract local audiences as they would enjoy seeing the scenic yet eerie representation of Norfolk as a setting in our production. The Quick pace cuts of our antagonist Ian Moone following Sam into the interior shed location adds pace within the production, therefore building the tension and suspense - a generic convention of thriller texts. 

Aerial shot of Weybourne beach from our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

    Another imperative feature used to attract our potential audience is the use of lighting within our production. The use of ambient light for the majority of our thriller text reinforces the plausibility of the film opening whilst reinforcing the realism that we intended to portray. This could possibly increase the appeal because the potential audience may be able to put themselves in characters position who are in a setting which they will recognise and be able to relate to. The use of chiaroscuro lighting in our production when we see the antagonist's face for the first time is a generic thriller convention seen in classic thriller texts such as Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'. This would help attract our potential audience as they may recognise the inter-textual reference to 'The Third Man', and also as is helps to signify that this is a pinnacle point within our production's narrative.

Harry Lime from Carol Reed's 'The Third Man' (1949)

    Our use of sound is another feature that helps to attract our potential audience, in regards to both the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. In our production, we used the diegetic sound to reinforce the sense of authenticity and realism that we wanted to portray in our thriller opening, which would attract our potential audience as it would seem that our production had character rather than being a carbon-copy of other productions; further attracting audiences to enjoy our production. In regards to non-diegetic sound, we used a minor key drone which crescendos, with the instrumentation gradually building up. This helps to create an unsettling atmosphere to our production, therefore attracting our potential audience as they would have an interest in more obscure and strange subjects and productions. Unsettling and unnerving the audience is a response that many thrillers aim to achieve, as seen in James Wan's 'Insidious'. Non-diegetic sound similar to that which we used for our production had been used in the opening credits of the thriller series 'Hannibal'. 

Opening to the series 'Hannibal' (2013)

    Finally, the most important factor of our production that was used to attract our potential audience was the cliff hanger. In our thriller opening the cliff hanger is where the antagonist in our narrative Ian Moone has followed the victim Sam into her shed, where the audience see Ian Moone's face for the first time, as well as see that he is holding a hammer. This disequilibrium in our narrative would attract our potential audience as they are left without a definitive conclusion of what Sam's fate will be, intriguing the audience and making them want to resolve the tension set up by this cliff hanger and find out what happens next. 

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Primary Audience

    For our production 'Beach Comber', the primary audience are aged 15-22 years old, as our production is centred around two teenage/young adult characters, so the audience would be able to identify with the characters as they are of a similar age -as well as the two actors being in this age range-  and therefore would be more invested in the thriller text. Also, as issues explored in our narrative could possibly happen to anyone, our production would appeal not only to teenagers but also young adults; who are considered in the 15-22 age range.

     As the victim in our narrative that we track from the beginning of the text is a female character, a female audience are more likely to sympathise with the character and be attracted to the production due to this, so therefore our primary audience are females. This is also because -as backed by government statistics- females are more vulnerable to being a victim in an attack, so therefore a female audience would further identify and sympathise with the Victim character Sam in our production. Despite this, our production isn't limited to only female audiences as it also features a strong, dominant male character.

Demographics form the film 'Attack the Block' - which is similar to our production in the fact it's a British film featuring deviant youths - supports that the primary audience for our film would be teenage/young adult females. 

      Due to the British locations and ethnicity of the two characters featured in our production, our primary audience would be British as these aspects would appeal to them as they could further relate to the characters and setting. Similarly, as the production is a low-budget, British independent film; it is more likely to attract a British audience as it may not get vast exposure as it is a small British production; making it imperative that we primarily target a British audience.

Their interests

    Our Primary audience may be interested in other films such as 'Submarine', 'Dead Man's Shoes', 'Tyrannosaur', 'The Loved Ones', 'Seconds Apart', 'Attack the Block' and 'The Cornetto Trilogy' ('Shaun of the Dead', 'Hot Fuzz', 'The World's End').

    Our audience may like 'Submarine', 'Dead Man's Shoes' and 'Tyrannosaur' as they are all Independent British films from Warp Films - a Independent British film company from Sheffield who want to get British film 'out there'; as well as 'Tyrannosaur' being Paddy Considine's directing debut.

    They may enjoy films like 'The Loved Ones' and 'Second's Apart' as the main characters featured are teenagers/young adults - especially both the victims and antagonists; much like our production.
  

  Whereas they may like 'Attack the Block' as not only does it's narrative revolve around a group of deviant British youths, but -similarly to 'Tyrannosaur'- it is Joe Cornish's directing debut for film, produced by Film4 and with Edgar Wright as Executive Producer.

    Similarly, 'The Cornetto Trilogy' will appeal to our target audience as it is a collection of British films written and directed by Edgar Wright (co-written and starring Simon Pegg), set and filmed in British locations; with social commentary on certain issues - issues of which could possibly be of interest to our target audience.

     Our target audience my also have an interest in 'True crime' texts, such as books and TV shows that explore certain cases of real life crime as it is an issue that is the focus of our narrative. One text they may enjoy is Derf Backderf's graphic novel 'My Friend Dahmer', which depicts the author's teenage friendship with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer during his time at Eastview Junior High and Revere High School. Backderf, while not excusing Dahmer's crimes, presents Dahmer as a surprisingly sympathetic kid who was tormented by inner demons and neglected by the adults in his life. The graphic novel recalls Dahmer's isolation, his binge drinking, his bizarre behaviour to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with road kill.

Potential wider audience

    As our exterior location is Weybourne beach in North Norfolk and our interior location is a shed in a urban location in Norwich, our media product would have a potential wider audience of Norfolk inhabitants due to these location. For example, Declan Lowney's 'Alan Partridge-Alpha Papa' was partially filmed in Norfolk, so they held their premiere at  Hollywood cinema in Anglia Square, Norwich. This is because the locals would be drawn to the film due to the appeal of the recognisable and relatable locations.

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

Our production 'Beach Comber' is a low-budged, independent British film; so more likely to appeal to a more niche audience.

Distribution Company

    Our product would most likely be distributed by StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing)  as they have distributed films such as Shane Meadow's 'Dead Man's Shoes' and Richard Ayoade's 'Submarine'; both being productions from the independent Sheffield based Warp Films who make productions in gritty contemporary settings . They have also distributed films such as Jeremy Lovering's independent British thriller 'In Fear' and Joe Cornish's directing debut in film with the British sci-fi comedy 'Attack the Block', which is centred around a group of deviant British youths - similar to the antagonist Ian Moone in our thriller production 'Beach Comber'; as well as Paddy Considine's directing debut with the gritty British drama 'Tyrannosaur'.

Theatrical release

 

     In terms of theatrical release, our film would be shown in a small, local cinema such as cinema city - in screen 3 as it is the smaller screen they have with a capacity of 63, so is the screen more likely to be used to show a new, independent  British  film.  Cinema City is a Picture House cinema in Norwich, with Independent, art-house and foreign-language films being central to Picture House's profile. Cinema City are known for showing a range of films from different genres, ranging from mainstream films such as Tomas Alfredson's mystery thriller 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', to niche, arthouse period drama films like Joe Wright's 'Anna Karenina'. This would attract a variety of audiences to the institution, as well as audiences who are familiar with Cinema City and their ethos, so would be more likely to take a chance with a small, low-budget independent film that they are screening. Another reason that Cinema City would be a fitting media institution to distribute our production is that it is a local Cinema in Norwich, so as part of our thriller text was filmed in the local area and part of it was filmed in North Norfolk, our production would appeal to a Norfolk audience.

The screening schedule for Cinema City on Sunday 30th March 2014

Cinema City have shown independent British films such as Shane Meadow's 'Dead Man's Shoes', which was a big inspiration for our thriller production 'Beach Comber'; which shows that Cinema City would be a fitting choice of media institution to show our production at, especially as our thriller text is also a low-budget, independent British production.

 

Digital Distribution

     Our production would be distributed digitally with companies such as LoveFilm as not only would it make our production more widely accessible to audiences, but StudioCanal - the company most likely to distribute our production- signed an exclusive long-term deal in the UK and Germany giving LoveFilm members access to the portfolio of new and library movies from StudioCanal for a 12-month window as part of their subscription at no extra cost. This means that more people are going to be exposed to low-budget independent British productions like ours, so would be very fitting for distributing our thriller text 'Beach Comber'. 


 

     Similarly, we could distribute our production 'Beach Comber' on Youtube as it is a low budget independent film; which means our thriller text may get more exposure if it circulated via this platform. It would also be useful to take advantage of this platform as not only is it free, but it also suggests videos that an individual may be interested in based on what they have viewed- once again meaning that our production could get exposure to a wider, more diverse audience. Distributing our product on youtube also gives us a way to get audience feedback as users can comment on the video, encouraging communication between production and consumers.

    Through this, we could use social networking sites such as Tumblr and Facebook to promote our product; films like Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit' have used their Facebook page to promote their new releases; and also enables audience response and feedback.

 Similarly, in the run up to Edgar Wright's 'The World's End' being released in cinemas, they made a Tumblr page for fans of the Cornetto Trilogy to share their creations and dedications with other like minded people, helping to create a community feel and build up buzz in anticipation for the release of the third and final instalment of Wright's Cornetto Trilogy. 

Television 

    In regards to TV, our production is most likely to be shown on Film4 as channel 4 as a multi channel company -which includes Film4- as part of their Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) requirements pledge to 'Innovate and experiment, to develop talent, to break the mould and take risks', 'Supporting small British companies... also support the British film industry' as well as 'Cater for all tastes and interests....including the needs of the minority groups'. This means that Film4 would be a very fitting channel to show a low-budget, independent British film like our production 'Beach Comber', especially as it would fulfil many of their PSB requirements -as our production is aimed at a niche audience- as well as benefiting the film itself; creating a reciprocal relationship. Another reason why Film4 would be a fitting choice for our thriller production is that the company has helped produce films such as Shane Meadow's 'This is England' which revolves around a group of young British individuals, and Johnathan Glazer's new release 'Under the Skin'. They also broadcast a wide variety of films from a plethora of different genres, including thrillers such as Kinji Fukasaku's cult classic 'Battle Royale'. 

Part of Film4's broadcasting schedule for Sunday 30th March 2014

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representation of gender

    The characters within our narrative present the traditional generic archetypes in the fact that we have a male antagonist Ian Moone and a female victim Sam; the stereotype of females being more likely to be the victim than the aggressor born from Government statistics. The antagonist Ian Moone is also a stranger to our victim Sam, a crime being committed by a stranger being statistically less likely to occur, adding to the fear and tension within our thriller opening. This conforms to the stereotype of males being dominant over females, reinforcing their masculinity. One example of these gender archetypes in other media productions is Marian Crane and Norman Bates in Hitchcock's thriller 'Psycho'.

Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960)

Sam  

    We decided to call our ambiguous victim Sam as it is a fairly common unisex name, which makes it seem as if the victim could have been anyone -evoking tension within the audience by making them feel as if it could well have been them in Sam's position.

    Sam's costume was inspired by the character of Richard from Shane Meadows' psychological thriller 'Dead Man's Shoes'. We decided to 'flip' the idea of Richard's style of clothing being used for an antagonist (as Richard 'takes revenge' on those who had wronged his brother Anthony) to the victim as in our narrative, there are points in which it seems as if the ambiguity of Sam as a character briefly leads the audience to question whether or not she actually is the innocent victim they were all lead to believe she was. The use of this costume also help to portray Sam as less stereotypically feminine, possibly suggesting that she may not have much of a chance up against our male antagonist Ian Moone if she was more of a generic female character. 

Richard from Shane Meadow's 'Dead Man's Shoes' (2004)

Ian Moone

    We decided to call our male antagonist character Ian Moone after Sqweegel, a character in an episode of the same name; from the 11th series of 'CSI'. In the show, Sqweegel is an enigmatic male serial killer who goes by the alias of 'Ian Moone' - an anagram for 'I am no one'. As our antagonist is also very enigmatic - wearing only dark colours, following the victim and never revealing his face until the end of our thriller production and also watches and attacks victims in their own homes, much like Sqweegel; we felt that this would be a very fitting name. Also, the last name 'Moone' connotes darkness, lunar and lunacy; which is reflective of him being a psychotic individual - a conventional thriller character type. The last name of 'Moone' is also very significant as our exterior location is Weybourne beach, and the moon controls the tide of the sea; suggesting that Ian Moone is the dominant party and is very much in his element whilst stalking Sam on the beach setting, as it is very much 'his location' due to the connotations of this. 

    Ian Moone is portrayed as violent and seeking dominance, much like the Moore Brothers - with a similar last name to our antagonist; forshadowing the fact that Ian Moone is a dangerous character as the Moore Brothers are a 'serial killing team'. The Moore Brothers are characters featured in the episode 'The wheels on the bus...' from the 8th series of 'Criminal Minds'; where they abducted a bus full of teenagers and decided to create a real-life version of a video game the two were obsessed with, using a large, abandoned mill to stage their 'game', and their victims as their 'characters' in the game; forcing them to kill one another. The fact that our antagonist Ian Moone conducts an attack on a female character - our victim Sam- could suggest that the character is trying to reinforce his masculinity as males are stereotypically more dominant and have more power than women. 

Joshua and Matthew Moore from'Criminal Minds' 8x8 (2012)

     We wanted Ian Moone to have a costume composed of only dark items of clothing, to portray his cold, calculating nature as well as reinforcing his masculinity. The use of a dark costume also helps to reinforce the feel of enigma about the character, making him seem very shadowy and shifty; which would be very beneficial in helping him to execute his devious and repulsive actions that are soon to unfold. This also helps the audience to identify that Ian Moone is the antagonist of our narrative, causing them to feel disgust and distrust towards this character. 

Sqweegel from 'CSI' 11x4 (2010)

Representation of ethnicity

    Both our antagonist Ian Moone and our victim Sam are white British youths, primarily due to the fact that when casting for our production we only really had a choice of actors who were white British as there are few ethnic minorities in our group/class and our school in Norwich. Although, the fact that the attack is on someone of the same ethnicity to the antagonist suggests that he is not conducting racially motivated attacks. This is similar to the British male character Morell -who is also fairly unstable and deviant, much like our antagonist- in Shane Meadow's 'Room for Romeo Brass' threatens another British male with a hammer, his motive unknown, after being rejected by a female character. This link -and the fact our victim is a female of the same ethnicity of Ian Moone- could suggest that our antagonist has a misogynistic view of women; whereas unlike Morell who takes his anger out on a 'surrogate', our antagonist Ian Moone channels his anger in a direct attack towards the opposite gender that he may be prejudice towards. 

Morell from Shane Meadow's 'Room for Romeo Brass' (1999)

    There are some stereotypes that suggest that British people are fairly reserved, which could be seen in our victim Sam as when she thinks there is someone behind her but turns around and there is no one there, the audience can clearly see that she is uncomfortable and slightly freaked out; but we haven't portrayed it in an over the top fashion, like seen in some american films such as the ham acting seen in Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead'.

Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead' (1981)

Representation of age

    Our antagonist Ian Moone and our victim Sam are both teenagers/young adults, age 17. In our thriller opening 'Beach Comber', Sam is presented as very isolated and distant - which adds to the ambiguity of the character; and Ian Moone is unstable and violent. This portrays youths as isolated and alienated, as well as unsociable and deviant; similar to Nathan Harris form the episode 'Sex, Birth, Death' in the 2nd series of 'Criminal Minds'. Nathan Harris was a school student who had developed murderous and sexual sadistic impulses, and was a suspect of a string of prostitute murders (vulnerable females - like Sam), who was then recommended to be placed in medical care after being found innocent; and later tries to take his own life. 

Nathan Harris from 'Criminal Minds' 2x11 (2006)

    The character of Ian Moone conforms to the stereotypical representation of juvenile delinquents, yet continues to exceed it also with his extreme behaviour of stalking the victim Sam. These characters are binary opposites, possibly reflecting the two polar opposite stereotypes of teenagers: they are either deviant and very aggressive - like how our antagonist Ian Moone is portrayed- or very shy and introverted - much like our victim Sam appears to be. The victim in our narrative Sam shows similar traits to the character Oliver Tate from Richard Ayoade's 'Submarine' , who is of a similar age to our characters and appears to be unsure about his place in the world and is fairly isolated. Similarly to Sam, Oliver can be seen walking on an isolated beach setting, reinforcing how distant youths nowadays may be from the rest of society.

Richard Ayoade's 'Submarine' (2010)

     Whereas Our antagonist Ian Moone is more comparable to the youths featured in Joe Cornish's 'Attack the Block', who are portrayed as juvenile delinquents, and can be seen at the beginning of the film mugging a random female on the street - similar to Ian Moone's random attack on our victim Sam. The deviant youths in 'Attack the Block' are also British, much like Ian Moone. 

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

    Our thriller opening 'Beach Comber' is a gritty thriller which explores the issue of stalking, including locations on the North Norfolk Coast and in a cramped garage in an urban location. We decided to call it ‘Beach Comber’ as that is the name for people who ‘Comb’ beaches looking for things – so links to the antagonist in our narrative Ian Moone following the victim in our narrative Sam on the exterior beach setting. 

Location

   Our exterior location in our production was Weybourne beach in North Norfolk. We decided to use this location as the primeval setting -the coastal isolation and distance from the civilised world being an aspect of the thriller genre- helps to reinforce the predatory feel of our antagonist Ian Moone, who is seen following our victim Sam. Beaches are also often associated with happy childhood memories with the family, so the fact that we decided to film our thriller opening here helps to create a juxtaposition between the memories our audience would associate with such a setting; and the dark, steely mise en scene and sense of alienation in our production. The location also helps to add gritty realism to our production due to the natural setting as well as stressing the isolation of the characters; inspired by Terry Winsor’s 'Essex Boys' in which the character Jason dumps the man who snitched on him at the Essex Marshes. 

Terry Winsor's 'Essex Boys' (2000)

Our Production 'Beach Comber'

     Similarly, in Richard Ayoade's 'Submarine', the main characters Oliver Tate and Jordana Bevan can be seen walking on an isolated beach setting in the UK; reinforcing the isolation of the characters themselves in the narrative.

     In October 1990 a unidentified dead body washed up on Weybourne beach, found by local fishermen. The fact that there was a body found at our exterior location  helps to add depth, dimension and meaning to our use of this location. It does this by adding a fairly eerie and foreboding feel as it strengthens the idea that something bad could happen to the victim Sam in our narrative whilst being followed at this location, as well as adding deeper meaning for those who recall this event/occurrence.

    We decided to use a shed in an urban location as our interior location as to create binary opposition between the natural setting of Weybourne beach - our exterior location, which helps to add aesthetic appeal; as well as the opposition reflecting that which is seen between the characters in our narrative. Similarly to the Weybourne beach location, the use of the shed also helps to add a sense of gritty realism to our production as sheds are a common thing that many people have; so could seem menacing as it helps to suggest that this attack could have happened to anyone - and highlights that you never really know what other people are doing 'behind closed doors'. 

The shed location in our production 'Beach Comber'

    The interior of the shed is a confined space, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere; making this location effective in unnerving and creating tension within the audience. This is because many people have a fear of being enclosed in small spaces and the idea of having a lack of oxygen - therefore possibly suffocating to death; and therefore this location plays on this fear. The claustrophobic, man-made location has an artificiality which strengthens the binary opposition to the open, natural location of Weybourne beach. This contrast in location could be reflective of the contrast of characters in our narrative - the supposedly innocent, ambiguous victim Sam; and the callous, mysterious antagonist Ian Moone. 

    As seen in the image above, the door of the shed has a smiley face painted on the inside. We decided to use this ironically as despite the fact that the image would suggest positivity, in our narrative the victim -Sam- is about to get attacked in this very place. We also used it as the symbol connotes positivity, yet manages to look quite dark and sinister; creating a juxtaposition of these two ideas. This imagery is similar to that used in the scene of  Kubrick's 'The Shining' where Danny is writing 'Redrum' on the inside of a door. 

Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' (1980)

Props 

The pebble used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

      In our exterior location of Weybourne beach, we used a pebble to reinforce the beach location, as well as to show the vulnerability of our victim Sam. This is because it shows that her attention is focused on the object in her hand, rather than what is going on around her. 

The lock and key used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

    In our shed location, we had our victim Sam unlocking the shed with a key which signifies her 'sense of security' being breeched by the intrusion of our antagonist Ian Moone. It also suggest that Sam has something to hide, so portrays her as a fairly ambiguous character as it makes the audience question her supposed 'innocent victim' status she had been given at the beginning of our thriller opening.

The objects featured in the interior of the shed location in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

    We wanted to use the objects in the shed to show how cluttered it was, symbolising the unstable mindset of our antagonist Ian Moone that follows our victim Sam into the shed - a psychotic individual being a generic thriller character type. Objects such as the ladder were used ironically to play on the superstition of walking under a ladder being bad luck. The superstition arose from a Christian belief in the Holy Trinity- that God is made up of three parts, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, the number three was somewhat sacred, and the triangle was by association also sacred with its three sides. A ladder leaning up against a building was seen as a triangle, so to walk through this triangle (by walking under the ladder) was seen as breaking the Trinity. The bible talks about the one unforgivable sin being blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, so someone who breaks the Trinity is seen to be in league with the Devil; and once again, being labelled such in the old days of Christianity was a quick way to invite the hangman and witch trials. We used this to create a foreboding atmosphere, hopefully raising tension within the audience. 

The torch used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

    We used the torch in order to accentuate the dark, claustrophobic setting; as well as to create chiaroscuro lighting within the scene - the use of which being a generic thriller convention. The use of the torch shows that Sam is looking for something in particular, which -after the occurrences in our narrative at the exterior beach location-  seems quite suspicious. This once again reinforces the ambiguity of our victim Sam by making the audience question her supposed 'victim' status. 

The saw used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

    We used the Saw to create a sense of ambiguity about our victim character Sam as in our narrative as we have her focusing on it in the shed for a while, similarly making the audience question Sam's supposed 'innocence' and 'victim status'. This also helps to reinforce the sinister feel of the location, as well as foreshadowing the events that are about to take place in that location. The saw is a prop that is often used in slasher films such as 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre', the use of it in our thriller opening adding a sense of menace whilst also anticipating the later occurrence violence. In the film 'Dread', an axe is used in a similar way with the victim character, temporarily subverting the victim/antagonist roles. 

Anthony DiBlasi's 'Dread' (2009)

The hammer used in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

   We used a hammer in our thriller opening as a weapon to reinforce the fact that Ian Moone is the antagonist in our narrative, as well as to make him seem more intimidating and overpowering - suggesting to the audience that out victim Sam is about to meet her end at his hands. This use of the hammer is very similar to that seen in 'Room For Romeo Brass' where Morell is threatening another male character. 

   

Lighting

    For the majority of our shots -especially in the exterior location of Weybourne beach- we decided to use ambient lighting to add a sense of realism to the production, as well as to make the dark costume of the antagonist Ian Moone stand out to the audience more. Whereas in the shots from our interior location - the shed that we filmed in- we used chiaroscuro lighting -much like that seen in 'The Third Man' and 'Nosferatu the Vampyre'- from a compact torch that our victim Sam has in our narrative. We used this to highlight the crucial moment of our victim Sam - along with the audience- seeing the antagonist's face for the first time, along with accentuating the shot as a pinnacle moment within our narrative. The fact that the lighting we used is similar to that seen in 'The Third Man' and 'Nosferatu' helps to link our antagonist Ian Moone to the idea of a phantom - as Nosferatu is a vampire and Harry lime from 'The Third Man' portrays vampiric/phantom-like features. 

The antagonist Ian Moone in our thriller opening 'Beach Comber'

Harry Lime from Carol Reed's 'The Third Man' (1949)

Nosferatu from F.W Murnau's 'Nosferatu the Vampyre' (1922)

Camera

    As to accentuate the isolation of our victim Sam and the Weybourne beach location, we used an aerial shot which not only successfully did this, but also extracted the audience from within the action and provided a change in camera movement; keeping the audience interested.

Sound

     In our thriller opening 'Beach Comber' we use a lot of diegetic sound to help reinforce the beach location as well as keeping a realistic atmosphere. We also did this as to create pathetic fallacy - the sound of the crashing waves and racing wind reflective of the 'incoming' of Ian Moone, as well as being reflective of our production's cutting and gritty atmosphere.

    In regards to non-diegetic sound, we decided to use a drone that constantly evolves and builds up in the background of our production, creating an eerie and unnerving atmosphere.  We also decided to add a different sound for when we see our antagonist's face for the first time, creating a similar feeling of tension in the audience; as well as clearly indicating to the audience that this character is our antagonist, and highlighting that this is a pinnacle moment within our narrative.

Narrative

     Our production 'Beach Comber' follows a linear narrative, which helps to make the story easy for the audience to follow. We decided to do this as not only does it make it easier for the audience to understand our narrative and what is going on, it also is effective in building the tension within the audience as it builds up anticipation. It does this by, essentially, putting the audience in our victim Sam's place - the audience not having any more knowledge of events then the character does, hopefully leading to the audience investing themselves in the story and following it until the end.

Thriller openings

    Our production 'Beach Comber' very clearly follows the conventions of a thriller film opening. One convention of a thriller opening that our production has is the title of the production clearly displayed - in our case between action shots. Another convention that we follow is the use of credits, giving the audience information of the roles people took on for the production of our media text. Finally, another convention of thriller openings that is clearly seen in our production is the use of a cliffhanger, this disequilibrium used to intrigue the audience and encourage them to watch the rest of the film to see what happens.