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

The title of our film is Stockholm Syndrome we decided on this name as it is a psychological condition which is very tough to understand, therefore fitting in nicely with our chosen genre of thriller with hints of mystery and action. We chose to place it at the end of the opening two minutes as I believe this fits in perfectly with conventions of many films especially of the thriller genre as we didn't want to give to much away to the audience but still have them wanting more and wandering what could possibly have happened next. Similarly to this, I believe that the red and white colour of the font of our title also fits in with typical thriller conventions as these colours connote danger and blood and the white could possibly resemble the protagonists personality. Additionally it is known that black is the absorption of all colour and the absence of light. Black hides while white brings to light and what black covers, white uncovers. This is also why we used a black background for our film title as it may represent the villain, the colour red foreshadowing blood loss. Furthermore, the colour white, representing the protagonist and how possibly later on in the film it may uncovered why the villain carried out his actions and behaves the way he does. This could also be viewed as challenging the methods of a predictable thriller as we have stuck to two colours throughout whereas most thrillers just use one to suggest a sense of consistency. We did however, chose to use these two colours as we also wanted to show clear contrast between the two characters; red representing the evil of the abductor and white representing the purity of the protagonist.  The font we chose is named Hacked and is a fragmented font which appeals to the distinctive elements of being disturbed and warped.

This frame shows where we captured most of the opening two minutes of our film. This shot is very important as it helps set the location and what the protagonists surroundings are like as it shows her running half way through the shot. We chose the location to be a forest as it has a creepy and eerie atmosphere giving it an unsettling feel, keeping the audience on the edge. Furthermore, we chose a forest for the location because it is also seen in many other thrillers and horrors such as The Cabin in the Woods, Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead and Mama. Using a forest as the location was very beneficial as it is isolated which again links to the detail that the protagonist is scared and abandoned, left alone. Additionally, another setting we used was on the road, we made sure that the road was wide and quite so we could film freely without interruptions but also show how the girl is in danger as the car could drive past very fast to indicate intensity and urgency, making the audience feel uneasy and anxious about what will happen to the girl and concerned about her safety.   

For costume we decided that it would’ve been best if our protagonist was wearing casual clothes (shown just like in the photograph taken of Anna on the day of filming). Items of clothing that a stereotypical teenager would wear in order to also fit in with the cliché conventions of a thriller film. I believe, that the costume similarly plays a huge role in attracting the audience as they will more naturally identify with the girl/ protagonist, which allows the audience to also empathise with her (and the situation she is in) but also add tension to the atmosphere, adding a more scary feel to the film. Although the clothes Anna is wearing remind the audience she is a teenager as they fit in with the typical teenage attire, the mud she has on her clothes show that she has been through a struggle and the fact that she is still running suggests that this struggle is possibly not over yet. In the flashback we thought that another hint of parts of the story line could’ve been the clothes she is wearing but also the heart necklace (which is only seen in the parts where she is running in the forest- could be a present from the abductor) . These are very important as the clothing suggests that because she is dressed very smartly and elegantly, that maybe she knew her abductor, possibly was planning on going somewhere with them. This encourages the audience to think for themselves further into the storyline as the drums we see in the flash-back suggest that the villain/ abductor took her back to a familiar location (to him) to add to his power (leaving her even more vulnerable), possibly his house as she seemed unsettled which is natural but this again appears obvious as she keeps looking around as if she is trying to figure out an exit strategy. From what we see in the flashback, we can see that the male character/ villain (we can, as an audience tell he is a villain from the fear she shows towards him when he walks in) wearing dark coloured clothing items particularly with the colour black, this is also quite a stereotypical attire of a villain. This separates him from the audience, emphasising his power and his role as a villain. This is mainly because black connotes, the hidden and the unknown and as a result creates an air of mystery. The colour is also known as a barrier between itself and the outside world, which could again add to the idea that there may be something wrong with the male character. 

While filming, we wanted to capture our footage in interesting ways. We managed to do this by using a variety of angles, which are shown in the photographs above. We did this in order to fit in with the conventions of a drama/thriller. The most used angles and shots that appear to be used in thrillers are point of view angles and this is because it allows the audience to feel like they are also going through what the protagonist is enhancing the tension in the atmosphere. Additionally, low angles are also used to portray the characters in a more dominant way and close ups are used to highlight the fear and expressions on a characters face. In the two-minute opening of our film we wanted to set the location through our camera angles and therefore, shot some of the footage from behind trees in order to retain the sense of mystery, just like in a established/real thriller. We additionally used, marginally canted shots to show the confusion the girl may be feeling. This helps make the audience also feel confused or even anxious as they are still left in the dark as to what is going on and what will happen. We also used close ups to present tension the protagonist is feeling, allowing the audience to feel as if they are right there in front of her and are seeing the amount of power she is using to run away. We lastly, used wide shots/ loose frames to convey the setting of the forest but also show how isolated and alone she is in such a huge and creepy area. Examples of the shots we used are shown above in the pictures. Furthermore, through the use of various angles we wanted to portray that even though she managed to escape where she was help there's actually no escape for her, she can't get away as there is always someone watching her every move all the time. 

For our films two-minute opening we chose to use a font for the title, which is named Hacked from the website Dafont, we chose this one as it appears distressed and somewhat high- tech, which, I believe would link nicely into the storyline of kidnapping. The look of the font shows the pain and danger that the protagonist is feeling/ going through,I think that this links nicely in with the generic conventions of thrillers. Through the font research and other opening analysis I thought that the nicest fonts and most appropriate were Seven and Taken as they had an element of distress and disfiguration to them. As we placed the title at the end we wanted to make it stand out more and let it be a sudden change in order to keep the audience interested and think further of what will happen. For the titles throughout the two-minute opening however, we used a font that was already on iMovie named Vertical drift as it was easy to see on top of the action but was also very subtle, bright enough for the audience to see them yet subtle enough to allow the audience to get fully engrossed in the film and not miss out on any of the action. In order to have connote anger and urgency we used capital letters, we also did this to make them stand out even more. In the films Taken and Shutter Island we see the use of the colours red especially as they connote blood, anger and danger. To fit in with the generic conventions of a thriller we decided to make the colours of the font dark red and white as white could show a huge contrast between the two characters.

I believe that the flashback really helps develop the storyline even more mainly because we as an audience receive clues and hints as to why and where the protagonist is. In the flashback, we decided to add a close up of the protagonists heart-shaped necklace and I think that this adds mystery because it can be seen as a clue because she isn’t wearing it in the scenes where she is running through the woods, it also helps the audience use their imagination to create a different ending if they are not pleased with it. I believe that this as a result is very effective as it adds to the element of mystery. I believe that not only the flashback but also the car scene develops the storyline nicely as we see glimpses of the person through close up shots through the mirror. As a whole, I think that the whole two minutes flow very nicely as there is an continuous development of the storyline while also keeping the audience with certain questions such as why the villain behaves in this way and why he has captured her. I feel like the flashback was a very effective part of the two minute opening as it was a different way to show the audience what has happened while also not give too much away. Furthermore, I feel this relates to the generic conventions of a thriller as throughout the two minutes we are as an audience constantly given clues in order for us to stay engrossed in what's going on.

The protagonist in our film is constantly shown throughout the two-minute opening. She is introduced to the audience as a character who has gone through something traumatic as she is running through the forest and looks very afraid and anxious. During the two minute there is a scene where she is running (obviously as she is running in fear for her safety she is just concentrating on getting to get to a safer/ more crowded place) she suddenly trips and falls over. Above is a screen grab of the scene where she has regained consciousness (after having a flashback) due to falling over and is about to carry on running. In this photograph you see the fear on her face as she was again in a vulnerable position and could’ve been found again by the villain. I believe that this scene as a whole fits in nicely with generic conventions of films within the thriller genre as usually the characters (particularly female characters) are presented as vulnerable, to correspond to the stereotypes of gender. I furthermore, think that this allows the audience to feel as if they can relate to the character.

Throughout the editing of the two-minute opening of our film, we tried using numerous special effects in order to enhance the vibrant elements of the raw footage to make it appeal more to the targeted audience members. Although, they were effective, a lot of them did however, challenge the generic conventions of a thriller mainly because it gave them a less scary feel at certain parts (where we relied more on the music and sound effects). The special effects we used included transitions, blackouts (darker screen/ black background) and bringing an element of slow motion. In order to emphasise the fall we made the raw footage darker (I think that this also reflected the storyline nicely) and changed the action to slow motion in order to emphasise the dramatic action, in this case the fall. To show a clear contrast but still create the same effect on the audience, we changed the car scene to a fast motion to enhance the danger and speed of the car as this fits in nicely and appeals to generic conventions of a thriller. I also believe that as the car sounded and went faster the audience will feel more scared and edgy.

Final Product

This is the final product my group and I have composed and we are as a whole very pleased with the end result. I feel that it was a task successfully carried out as it has quite a more professional feel to it and achieves the main aims/conventions of a thriller which is to keep the audience engrossed in the film, wandering and trying to further build the scenario in their heads but by also keeping them on the edge of their seats.

I believe that through the research and planning tasks I have carried out, I have managed to take in to consideration what influences and what manages to captivate the audience throughout. Our main aims here were to make it as realistic to established Thrillers as possible and in order to achieve this it was crucial for us to thoroughly understand the conventions of our chosen genre, but by also adding our own interesting touches to it, to make it appeal to the right audience while similarly try and make it a bit more unique in order to make the audience want to carry on watching it.

Please don't forget to turn off annotations and it turn to 720p HD. 

Diary Post 8: shooting & editing the flash back

Today we filmed one of the most important scenes of the two-minute opening of our film. This scene was the flashback, which we wanted to include in our final product in order to develop the storyline further but to also enhance the element of mystery and suspense that our film already has. We decided to film the flashback in one of the music rooms at school as we thought that the drum kit could also be another hint just like the necklace to encourage the audience to think for themselves. We mainly filmed Anna (we pretended to tie her up) struggling, trying to find a way to escape from wherever she is held.

In addition to this, I filmed a point of view shot (acting as the villain/abductor) looking at Anna through a window and opening the door walking towards her. Ellie then filmed my feet while I was walking in as if this was a point of view shot (through Anna’s perspective), we did this in order to create suspense as the audience may be worried as to what the villain will do as this was building up even more tension. While we were filming Anna’s struggle, we zoomed in to her necklace as we decided it could be a unique and important clue to the audience. For example, this could answer questions of why, who gave it to her and why she was abducted.

The filming of the flashback took roughly 30-40 minutes; this was very helpful as we were then able to edit the footage and make any last minute improvements to our film.  While filming the flashback we wanted to ensure that it appeared distorted in order to show that the protagonist is truly going through something very psychologically challenging and it is very hard to understand what she is going through, even if the audience feel sympathetic towards her. In order to achieve this, we had to edit and combine quite a few clips together for it to look panicky and intense, adding again to the nervous atmosphere. 

During the editing session of the flashback, we added our own music (non-copyright) and sound effects while also making some last minute changes to our final product, making sure we were all pleased with it and agreed that all scenes were smoothly flowing as one. One we all agreed and were pleased with the two minute opening of our film as a final product, we then uploaded it to YouTube. 

Order of titles/credits

https://vimeo.com/46478674

As part of the research and planning section of our coursework we have to look into the orders of inter-titles and credits should be in. I looked into a few different orders, for example the order which I included in the practice inter-titles short clip we created on iMovie. The order of the inter-titles is important as it is key when wanting to replicate a two minute opening accurately. I also looked into previous examples from previous G321 Media Studies students and saw how they used inter-titles in their final piece (two minute opening). This can be very helpful and beneficial when we come to edit our film as we want to make it as realistic to a two minute opening of a film as possible.

This video includes a different sample order of opening credits of a film created. When I come to edit the final two minute opening of our film, I will use this as a guide to get the order correct but I will also look at others and try and combine some as it might look more effective. I really like how the way these credits are presented are very effective but also very creative in the way they are entered onto the screen and are also very eye-catching. For example, I really like how some are entered coming in from behind the screen and others on the platform of the train. I feel like these ways are very effective as the creativeness of them allows it to appear as though they were already a part of the film naturally and were not edited (although you can tell) as they flow nicely.

Diary Post 7: Process and progress of editing

Second session of editing:

Todays lesson was used as a second editing session. In this session we tried to gather all the footage we had and tried to sort through them, arranging them in categories and which parts we thought would look better once based around the particularly important scenes. These include the scene of the car and the scene of Anna's/ the protagonists fall. While we were editing the clips we had to ensure that they flowed as naturally as possible because we didn't want them to appear choppy or as if a big part of them was missing. Through my preliminary task, I realised that this is a very important skill to have as it gives it a much more professional feel but furthermore makes everything flow as if it is one piece and that we were not mainly relying on editing alone but also the footage itself.  

As mentioned above one of the main parts of our two minute opening was the protagonists fall. We mainly started by looking at the footage based around the fall. We tried to develop our editing skills by playing around with the trimming tool and split clip tool to make them the appropriate length and placing them in an order of shots which we thought worked best. In addition, in this session we focus quite a bit on the timings/ lengths as we had a variety of angles but still wanted the fall to seem realistic while trying not to break the 180 degree rule (which I again was able to practise in my preliminary task). We wanted one part of the fall to be in slow motion and we therefore decreased the speed of the fall by using the slow motion tool. Towards the end of this editing session we went over everything we did and muted the sound on the raw footage as the diegetic sound would've become distorted.  

While editing these clips we also tried to enhance the footage and add effects to make the scenes darker as the footage came out quite dark due to the weather restrictions. This was very important as the contrast of the footage played a huge role in setting the scene and scenario but most importantly this is needed in order to ensure that it appeals to the conventions of a thriller.  We additionally, tried experimenting with sound effects such as the sound of the car, or sirens but also the calming sound of nature (birds tweeting, leaves falling, wind etc) at the beginning to create a clear contrast from what was actually going to happen and before we introduced the element of action we had in our film. Music is also key when making a two minute opening and setting the scene, we therefore looked at non copyright music we could add on top of the clips to compliment and enhance the action and intensity within our film. 

Third Editing session:
In this lesson, we again carried on experimented with linking and trying to make all of the other running shots flow nicely once edited together as a continuous piece. We would like to make the clips have a much faster pace than the original to add to the element of panic, we can also achieve this by adding the various angled shots(allowing us to include numerous techniques) we managed to capture, having them each at a minimum of 2-4 seconds. At this stage of our product, all member of my group and I went through the current film (even though we needed to add the flashback scene) which was at a time of 1 minute and 30 seconds and gave our honest constructive criticism about our film, naming areas of strength but also weaknesses. We all had relatively similar points of what we thought could be improved. We thought that some of the shots needed to be again sped up as it appeared that those scenes dragged on making it a bit more dull. One of the ideas one of the girls had was to cut out a few of the running scenes as they didn't allow the opening scene to as smoothly with the other shots.
Towards the end of the lesson we planned when we were going to film the flashback as we believed it was a key part of the two minute of our film, as it enables the narrative to expand but also builds up tension making the audience members  more engaged. A reasonable time which we thought would be easy for everyone to attend was a day on the weekend. We are planning on filming this in a small confined space, this additionally gives hints that the environment is dangerous and I believe this will be affective as it will ensure that the audience will be more intrigued about the scenario and what will happen next.

Editing sessions to follow:
In the sessions to follow, such as when editing the flashback scene we will try and follow the same processes as before to try and make everything flow nicely even when there are transitions, as we want it to be obvious that it is flashback but also make it look as realistic as possible. To ensure that we are producing work to the best of our abilities we constantly ask for the opinions of people outside of our group as it is always good to have a variety of people's ideas fed back as everyone has a different way of viewing things and their opinions may become very helpful to us. 

Diary Post 6: First attempt at Editing

This was the first lesson where the editing process began. We started to edit our film in school using the iMac, therefore enabling us to use iMovie. We were able to go through our raw footage and pick out the most successful parts. We firstly began by picking apart the footage, choosing the most important parts to include them in our opening and then using them as a format to work around them. One of the most important parts, I believe was where Anna/ the main character falls over which then leads to the flashback (which we are planning on doing very soon as the set/ scenery is indoors, therefore being completely different). Another part which I think is very important, is the ending with the car, for this we are planning on having quick cuts between the car and Anna running in/towards the road and a sound effect of the car over it to create intensity. This session/ lesson in the editing room was not only used to plan out which footage was in fact best to be used, but it was also used for learning and trying to become a bit more confident with iMovie. This included, playing around with the transitions we planned to include in the two minute opening of our film, sound effects and inter-titles. During this lesson we were also able to download from YouTube the opening production company, which for our film we chose to be Tri-Star as they appear to produce films we having using as inspiration. Once downloaded, we then trimmed the clip to the appropriate length, as we didn't want it to be to long yet we wanted it to appear fluid and smooth as a whole, we trimmed it down to around 7 seconds. This helped a lot as it brought hints of a professionally put together film. After working on the introductory logo footage of Tri-Star we work on the were beginning of our opening, which we wanted it to be sounds of the natural environment in the forest while also bringing a visual element to it. We wanted this to be calming in order to create a clear contrast between what was actually going on in the transitioning scene. In order to compliment our storyline, we had to edit/add an effect on top of our raw footage as it was a bit too bright due to the weather when we filmed, we used iMovie to make it a bit darker to not only link with the storyline but also make it clear to the audience that the protagonist is in a very isolated, dark situation. 

Diary Post 5: A day of filming

On Sunday (8th of February 2015) we went to Nonsuch Park to film the opening two minute scene of our film. We started to film around 11:30 am and finished around 3pm .We chose to film at Nonsuch purely because it was a lot easier to access and the area was a lot more familiar and better known to us. This is helpful because if we were needed to go back and film footage it will be easier to get there and back. 

We tried walking further into the woods for a while, until we found an area which was more abandoned and had dirt/muddy paths and lots of trees around with fallen leaves. This helped us set the scene but furthermore make our idea more realistic. Although the weather was sunny and bright, which we did not want, this enabled us to experiment with lighting, we used this to our advantage as if we were to actually film on a darker day it may have been view differently as it is now easier to out an effect on the footage and play around with the brightness and contrast. Whereas, if the raw footage was darker even if edited some areas might have come out highly contrasted restricting us in wanting to show and accentuate for example certain areas of the face. 

We spent the majority of the day in the woods, although we did set off our filming by shooting footage for the car scene of the two minute opening. In order to capture this effectively we filmed this on a quiet road which ensured us freedom of being able to shoot whatever we wanted but also from a variety of angles and as the road was not only quiet (helpful as it wasn't dangerous and we were not interrupted by other people or drivers) but wide with a few trees on each side (we were able to shoot from behind the trees). 

As Anna played the protagonist of our film, she were what we had planned during our research into costume designs. We had to ensure that through what she wore, we were able to appeal to the target audience and make it apparent that she was in fact a teenage girl. Anna wore a hoodie, with a white t-shirt underneath (which she had smeared mud on to), leggings and a pair of white converse (the attire of a stereotypical teenage girl). She did not only put mud on her clothes, she also put some on her face to help set the scenario and again remind the audience of what the lead character is and will be going through. Ellie and I, then filmed Anna running through the woods, we filmed the footage on our phones which have a HD feature, this helped as it made it appear a bit more professional and similarly helped because that way we both filmed more than enough footage with a variety of angles and ideas behind them. The variety of angles included some from behind trees, point of view shots, loose frames and including those which we practised in our preliminary tasks. Additionally, through carrying out the preliminary task I learnt that it is very important to get a lot of footage even when we think that we have the right amount as once we come to edit we will find that maybe some parts don't link as well as we were planning or aren't to the best standards or expectations. 

Overall, I believe that the hours we spent filming on Sunday were very successful and everything went well according to plan even when we had to compromise, as we managed to capture every shot including additional ones too . We can now go into the editing phase very well prepared. Although it wasn't as expected the weather did not hinder our filming progress or impacted the quality of any shots in any negative way. Throughout this post, I included behind the scene photographs to help envision everything that was explained above, perhaps in much more detail.