How did you attract/ address your audience?

We attracted our audience by using a sound track that starts off eerie and slow paced and then builds up tension and quickens as the story does. This will also confirm to the audience that our film is of a thriller genre. Using this track attracts the audience and also ensures that they pay attention to the film, to see what is going to happen. The suspense music creates a mood which can influence the audience opinion of the film and what is going to happen in the rest of the film and it also creates an eerie atmosphere. We have used quick camera shots and hand held shots to create tension in the opening sequence, this created a mood of fear for the audience, also settling on the genre of the film, that it is a Thriller.


The above screenshot is from the first sequence, effects are used to create a sense of fear as well as making it clear to the audience that it is a flashback.

By placing a significant event at the start of the product we hoped to grab the audiences attention with the fast pace sequence whilst keeping details of the plot scarse (only hinting with subtle items such as the shadow in the above screenshot).
However, the second sequence contrasts greatly with the first. We used slow, harmonious music for the second sequence, hinting Romance in the film between the two characters the audience are introduced to. The music finishes just before the sequence does, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger to the plot of the film. The introduction of the genre of Romance in the film offers appeal to a larger, less- distinctive audience. The genre of the film is similar to the film Brick, creating a larger appeal to a wider audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience is the group at which are film is aimed at, this is often a age group or gender. It determines how we will make the film and what we will involve in the production of it.

The audience we have targeted with are media product is of a teenager age range of 12-19 years of age. As a result we have used actors and characters that are relatable to this age group. To begin with, in the opening sequence the female character is clearly a 15-17 year old teenager, this makes her relatable to the audience and will increase the like hood of attracting the audience at which we are targeting. The costume she is wearing is something a teenager would be expected to wear at her age showing this. The male character being of a similar age group adds to the effects of this.

The genre of film is thriller, this is a genre that is very popular among the teenage population this makes it very appealing to the age group as it will be similar to other films they have seen in cinema’s of the same genre. It particularly will appeal to couples as it would (if we continued the project) of contained a element of romance to it.


The film may also appeal to a more broader audience. Particularly those who liked films that share similar traits and of the same genre, the most similar film is ‘brick’ as it has a similar opening sequence and storyline as a result we may also attract fans of similar films. Similarly, as the audience is likely to be much smaller we are aiming for a niche audience. As we are not aiming to attract a massive audience of people of many different ages. Thrillers are also more popular with niche audiences, due to their complex narrative.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The female character as at first underdeveloped, but relatable to the target audience due to her age and appearance.

The way our media product represents social groups is rather typical of the genre. The female lead is presented as a victim with lots of high angle shots on her body giving the audience the impression her character was weak and vulnerable. She is also presented as a scared character running away from her pursuer, instead of fighting back like a stronger female character would have. The female character in our product is essentially a stereotypical woman victim, however the use of shot/reverse shots between her and the man connote they have a relationship and therefore her significance.

The male character is not typical for thriller themed films, he is a calm but secluded character.

The male lead is represented in an un-stereotypical manner for the thriller genre, instead of dominating the scene and ordering an investigation he is instead seen as a solitary character throughout, he is clearly troubled by the girl’s body but he remains calm and calculated. Due to this performance his motives are unidentifiable by the audience. In the second scene he is shown living by himself in a lonely setting, this is unlike the conventional protagonist in detective films who is usually portrayed with a family and as a outgoing cheerful character. The protagonist in our product is portrayed as calm and reflected, much like the protagonist in the opening of the film ‘Brick’.
The use of a young protagonist will also draw in a younger audience to the genre, as most crime-thriller protagonists are older males it is unconventional to have a teenager play the lead detective.
Both of the characters in the product are also White British, this is insignificant in the narrative and was just a case of the actors available for the piece.

Looking back at preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to full task?

In the Preliminary task we learnt two main techniques used in film, the first is being 180 degree rule. This ‘rule’ is simply to ensure that the audience and viewers do not confused, as braking the rule can switch characters placements from right and left side of the screens. We slightly broke this in the task in a over the shoulder shot with the teacher character, we used the experience from this to ensure we did not brake the rule in are main task, this was done by ensuring we kept the camera on the same side of a character throughout a scene and checking that we did not break the rule.

The second lesson we learned from Preliminary to main task was continuity, this is a simple concept in media that means characters, mise en scene, editing and sound fit the scene throughout all the shots. For example, in are film during the first sequence, the bag that the victim throws on the ground while running remains in the same location throughout the sequence, additionally shots after this the character no longer carries the bag. This ensures that the scenes flow in a continuous motion and attempts to prevent confusion in the audience.



A major difference between are Preliminary Task and are main task will be the sound involved. In our prelim we only included the sound that was recorded on the scene with the camera as we still hadn’t learned the full extent of the editing software we use (Finalcut Pro 9). This is a major difference as in our main task we have used a custom soundtrack, and recorded diegetic sound to be used in the film. The soundtrack ( made using Garage band) runs throughout the opening sequence while the sounds where added to give realism to the scene. The most obvious example of this is the heavy breathing in the flashback of the girl running.

In addition to this we are using much more transitions, particularly fades which are used to show a passing in time in our film opening. This is combined with special effects to show the audience which are the flashbacks and which are in the present timeline. For example, on the flashbacks we used two effects called de-saturate and contrast, this makes the scene much darker in the more shaded areas. Also, we have used a white fast fade, this enables the viewers to clearly understand the difference between the flashbacks and present.

Costume Analysis

Male analysis (Opening sequence):
As shown in the image, we have presented the character to have a relatively strong degree of intelligence by the way he dresses. He is shown wearing a tie and shirt. We also used many dark colours (mainly black) on his costume in order to show he is mysterious and the role in the film is unknown.
His Clothing included:
-Black Tie
-Black Coat
-Dark grey shirt (was originaly purple as seen in photo but was changed afterwards)
-Dark coloured jeans
-Black, formal shoes
The characters dark hair also helped in the sequence.




Female (Opening Sequence) :
The female character in the opening sequence wears simple clothes, she wears dark colours as lighter coloured clothes would make the sequence seem brighter. We aimed for the sequence to be dark and mysterious. Her bag is important in the sequence as she drops it on the floor, implying afterwards that she was possibly mugged as the male character looks over to it. While we see her body, her knees are covered with blood. This is important in the scene as it shows she has fallen over. Also, there is blood on her hand to show that she was murdered after she fell.
her clothing includes:
-Black top
-Grey pants
--Blooded (knees)Grey Pants
-white trainers
-Black bag

Male (2nd Sequence):
In this 2nd sequence, the character is wearing clothing that is expected to be worn during the moarning, he starts with the first scene wearing legging perjarma's. This fits the scene as the character has only just woken up. In the following shots he is shown wearing a dressing down, yet again this is suitable for the scenes as it is early in the moarning and he has just awoken from his sleep. Clothing included:
-PJ (legs)
-Dressing gown

Anamatic with Commentary

This is the Anamatic that includes commentary explaining the scenes to give a general idea of what we are hoping to achieve in each scene and shot.

Storyboard Anamatic

Here is the storyboard for the first 40 seconds of our main task without the directors commentary. The sequence shows the basic idea of the man analysing various aspects of the girls dead body whilst visualising the events leading to her death.