Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator,

Thank you for marking my AS media blog. My brief was to create the opening of a film in the Thriller genre. I have chosen to create mine in the sub-genre of a psychological thriller. My target audience are middle aged males aged 30-40 and thrill seekers. I have used labels to make it easily navigable in order to find what you are looking for.

Yours sincerely,
Rhianna Henson-Smith
Madeleine Fox
Sara Campeggi.

Doctor 6:19 - Final Product

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions... by maddy

Evaluation Question 2.1: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Evaluation Question 2.1: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Madeleine Fox (C... by maddy

Evaluation Question 2.2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Our only other character during our film opening, is portrayed by Sara Campeggi, as a young adult (aged 18) who is a victim of DR. Damien's serial murders. We first spot her outside have a cigarette, this adds to the theme of abusing God's teaching ("your body is a temple").

We dressed Sara in a typical outfit, combining a pair of jeans, a jumper and a navy jacket. We thought that we could either dress her in a stereotypical nightclub outfit (such as a short dress), however we wanted to portray her as a vulnerable victim, therefore opting for the died-down outfit!

When researching other similar female victims from psycho-thrillers, I came across Janet Leigh's role as Marion Crane in the 1960 film "Psycho". (She portrayed the stereotypical blonde  and attractive female victim.) And in a similar way we wanted to create that sense of innocence/ purity with Sara's unnamed character, so the audience wold be allowed to sympathize with her. Although at the same time we did need to portray that nightclub vibe, so we shot the scene at night (with dark, shady lighting which stereotypically represents danger and at the same time she was stood under an orange street light to replicate the use of police search lights (this suggests to the audience that the doctor has an evil alter-ego)!

Evaluation Question 3: what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Evaluation Question 4: What would the target audience for our media product be? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Who would be the target audience?

Our target audience is a middle aged man, as they have been proven to view psycho-thrillers more than any other category of audience. They are said to like the extreme tension and mystery held throughout the film and enjoy the darkness/ shadiness to characters more than your stereotypical TV male character the 'white van man' (who is dull and average)!

• A middle aged man between 30-40 is said to enjoy hobbies such as cycling, running or going to the gym. 
• They are said to shop at any shop that includes mens clothing or outdoors kit, such as Timberland or Cotswold Outdoor. This is due to the stereotypical masculine vibe.
• They tend to listen to rock music such as Deep Purple, GunsnRoses or ACDC... This genre of music tends to include heavy drum beats, with extreme guitar skills. Therefore a link can be found between the intensity of the thriller genre and the rock.
• Middle aged males tend to watch TV shows to do with sports and cars, such as the Football or Top Gear. These shows tend to be non-fiction, which males are supposed to be more inclined to (as they liked to learn new skills which are stereotypical for men to have, such as how to change a tire...).

The audience gender however could be a mixture of both females and males of any age over 15; it all depends on their characteristics and personality.

Being a psycho-thriller, the film will receive an audience that has an interest in psychology perhaps or the human mind.

We also decided that our film would have a certificate rating of 15+, as we thought some scenes during the film may prove too intense for children under 15. However the film proved too safe to be an 18+, as it had no indecent scenes.

                             

Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

"In the following clip from the writing on the Bible to the website article we used the stereotypical genre conventions to portray the film as a psycho-thriller. For example, there is a mixture of dark and yellowish lighting, which suggests that his whereabouts are indeed shady and mysterious and the yellow lighting hinting the presence of the police (as it acts as a search light). This use of music also allows the audience to believe the film is a psycho-thriller, as the sound effect of scribbling and the religious music adds to the stereotypical intensity and suspense found within a thriller. But it is the sound effect of voices in the head which clues the audience into thinking that the thriller is indeed of the psycho sub-genre (as it relates to schizophrenic symptoms and there is also a clip including pills for schizophrenia)."

"During the next clip from the moment the Doctor walks to his car to the moment he drives of we used the stereotypical psycho-thriller genre conventions, such as dark lighting and mysterious settings to portray our character as dangerous. This is what our target audience thought the character and setting would be like when we interviewed them.  The use of dramatic choir music also intensifies the suspense amongst our target audience, as they said during their interviews they would expect to see. The sound effect of sirens, also added to the theme of danger as it is stereotypical for police car sirens to be present during a dangerous event and it also helps to suggest the setting, as he works in a hospital therefore it is likely to be the sound of an ambulance."

"I believe that my movie is unique in comparison to similar movies such as Se7en and Mr Brooks, because it has a unique selling point (in the form of younger characters, which may relate to a younger audience). However the storyline seems to appear more to an audience of a middle aged man, as its intensity is found to be more liked by them compared to younger people as they prefer comedy or action. I found that when addressing our target audience we were successful, as when interviewing them they said they’d expect dark shady characters and mysterious settings."

Evaluation Question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Evaluation Question 7: how has your continuity within camera work progressed since the Preliminary task? - Madeleine Fox (Candidate Number = 2055)

Casino Location overview

For our scene outside a nightclub, we decided to use the Casino. This was for both logical and eye-catching reasons!

We thought that the casino would be a highly logical setting, as there was a large car park around the back of it (so it would be safe for us to park, instead of going over double yellow line).

We believed it to be eye-catching to our genre, as it had hardly any lights around the car park. Therefore we could use it to our advantage to create a stereotypical dark setting. We also thought the casino was a good option, as its bright lights around the front an side were brilliant for showing the danger that approached. This is due to the fact that hey symbolised police search lights. Another reason for choosing the casino to drive past, was the fact that we could film the doctor looking up at it (this would be a low angle shot form his eye-line, representing his low level of authority/ bad personality).

Why we chose those characters

We chose a male aged 25, because:

• doctors tend to start at the age of 25 (as this is the age medical students complete their degree), therefore we thought it would be good to portray our character at this age.
• we opted for the youngest of the age group though, as stereotypically killers are of a younger generation. For example in Paul and Peter in 'Funny Games' (2007).
• we chose a doctor, because we thought it would be a good link between his schizophrenia condition.
• we thought our killer must be male as stereotypically males tend to play the part of killers

We chose a young female between 18- 22, because:

• you have to be 18 to go to a club, and we wanted someone who could club (as that is the category of victims our killer is picking from)!
• we chose to present our victim as smoking, as the whole reason behind our doctors serial of murders is due to the fact that people are abusing their bodies via smoke, drugs and drink.
• it was best to use a female victim, as stereotypically females are seen as being more vulnerable.   

potential costume for our victim character

As a victim, we want her to be represented as innocent and pure. However as our doctor only kills those who abuse their bodies with drugs, drink or smoking, we want to portray the bad attitude within her. Therefore we have considered:

• a stereotypical outfit for a teenager - jeans, t-shirt, jacket... I believe that this will show the fact that our victim was just a normal girl trying to have fun, when she was brutally murdered. I think that this will bring the audience to believe that the killer was out of line and that she was indeed a victim.
• However, she could potentially as a cluber/ party girl be seen wearing the stereotypical 'bad-girl' outfit (a dress and leather jacket with high-heel shoes)!

Potential costumes for our main character

Our character as a doctor might wear:

• suit - as those who are high up in the business tend not to wear scrubs but their own work clothes and a suit is a typical work costume.
• scrubs - as he works in a hospital it may be that he has to wear scrubs if about to go into surgery, however it is unlikely that our doctor shall wear scrubs (as he isn't a surgeon or nurse). 
• white lab coat - doctors who are high up often wear a white lab coat to distinguish themselves from ordinary hospital visitors.

As a killer, our character may wear:

• a hoodie - as stereotypically killers are viewed as gangster who normally wear hoodies to hide their identity. Suggesting that there is something for them to hide.
• jeans - it is stereotypical for killers to dress plain, as they don't want to be pin-pointed as a killer/ stand out to the police.
• white t-shirt - again like the jeans it is stereotypical of a killer to wear something simple, to withdraw from standing out. 

Interview with our target audience

Group working

Rhianna, Maddy and Sara

Settings/ locations commonly used within pyscho-thrillers

The setting is a very important element to Psychological thrillers. The two most common location for Psychological thrillers to be set in; is the city and inside a building. E.g. An house jail restaurant. The countryside isn’t as commonly used as it can get confused with a horror film.

Psychological thriller: the setting would be in the hospital, church, house, prison etc...

  

 

 

Conventions of Psycological-Thrillers

 

Possible sound effects

From these clips, I have learnt that the stereotypical sounds for a psycho-thriller tend to be dark and eerie. You may experience sound effects such as screaming, wind whistling, creaky doors and high-pitch drum sounds.

Having looked at these, I would like to incorporate the intensity of volume into our film opening, as it will give tension and suspense to the audience.

Possible ideas for our main character

Having watched this, I know that psycho-thriller characters tend to be personally involved and critically dominant throughout the film. Also, they tend to suffer from a mental illness of some type, which affects their behaviour within the film. These characters are quite often shown to be mistreated by others and seen as abnormal, which tends to be the starting point/ spark for their road of destruction that normally follows!