Our film opening ‘Attraction kills’ is an obsession based thriller about a man who kidnaps and kills blonde females. Our thriller opening is full of suspense and enigmas and I

believe it would entertain many; however, the target audience for out product are both male and females from the age 15 to 25. In my opinion our thriller opening would attract females over males as the opening is based around females being kidnapped and they may be able to relate

and even see themselves in the characters.

QUESTION 4; WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

As you can see my mood boards both are based on teenagers. The mood boards are both for male and females and are founded around older teenagers. The females mood board shows what teenage girls are interested in for example: make up, fashion, perfume and glamour magazines. The mood board has pictures of what a teenage girl would be interested in or find intriguing.

TARGET AUDIENCE MOOD BOARDS

The male mood board shows what a older teenage boy is interested in for example; consoles, console games, football and girls. The mood board has pictures of shops that a older teenage male would shop in like JD and Topman.

Our thriller film opening is similar to ‘Kiss the girls’ as they are both kidnap thrillers based around obsession.

‘Kiss the girls’ is based around a man who kidnaps talented college girls, this then attracts females around the age of 15 to 25 similar to our thriller film opening as the target audience can then relate to the film and even see themselves in the characters.

If our thriller film opening was to proceed into an entire film, we would want to keep the identity of the character following our murderer hidden similar to ‘Kiss the girls’ however their murderer’s identity was hidden instead. This would create suspense and enigmas for the audience to keep the on edge and watching.

Feedback from our target audience.

The film opening is

very interesting

and kept me wondering what was going to

happen next.

Wow! I loved it I wish it was a

whole film! The music was creepy and

made the film better.

It wasn’t really my type of film I

prefer a film that

gives away

more at the

opening.

It was really interesting the range of shots defiantly make the film better.

I liked it.

The

storyline

was really

exciting.

It could have had more

shots but it is a good film opening.

I do media

myself and

after

watching

this

opening I

defiantly

think it is

suited to

its target

audience.

Before filming our thriller film opening we had no concerns apart from the locations; however we did have some locations in mind. To conform that the locations we had chosen were appropriate we put a question about the location when we pitched our film idea in our questionnaire.

Feedback

The first set of feedback we got from our target audience was when we pitched our film idea to our media studies class and other people that fit into our target audience which is 15 to 25. We had all positive feedback from both pitches and our target audience agreed the location we had chosen was appropriate which was our main focus on our feedback. After pitching our film idea, our target audience thought that our storyline was intriguing and full of enigma’s and that nothing had to be changed.

After making our thriller film opening and producing our final product we then showed our opening to our target audience and asked them a serious of question and what they thought of our final product. They commented on our use of music and range of shots and how they made our film an effective thriller.

FEEDBACK AND HOW WE ADDRESSED ANY ISSUES

RAISED

In my opinion, thriller is a very popular genre amongst teenagers as the genre is full of thrill and enigmas which keeps them entertained and continue watching. Therefore to create a successful thriller opening for our target audience our aim was to tick four main criteria's which are;

1. Genre conventions.

2. Media Language.

3. Music

4. Similarities with other films

QUESTION 5; HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Genre conventions consist of four sub-sections which are; characters, iconography, narrative and themes. Firstly I will be discussing characters and how they appeal to our target

audience.

GENRE CONVENTIONS

The first character is introduced without their

identity being revealed. He is staring at a wall full of photographs of blonde females with red X’s

through their faces. This creates an enigma and shows this character to

have some kind of obsession to the audience.

This appeals to our teenage target audience as this

reveals nothing about the films and keeps them

speculating.

The next characters introduced are pictures of the blonde females

with their faces crossed out this creates an

enigma to the audience as they are left

questioning, ‘why they have their faces crosses

out?’, ‘why they are being stared at?’, etc.

The audience are then introduced to another

character ‘the girlfriend’ who is calling the unidentified

male character, there is also a picture of her with lines of cocaine over her face. This

appeals to the teenage male audience as she is an

attractive female character.

Two characters are then introduced

together, 'the girlfriend’ and the unidentified male. We are presenting

the characters together as a couple

which appeals to the teenage female audience as there is a theme of romance.

The male character who was unidentified is

then identified to the audience he is shown as a typical thriller character as he is a

white male and dressed in dark colours. This attracts the female

teenage audience as he is an attractive male

with a sense of excitement.

While ‘the girlfriend’ is

being strangled by the male

character the camera pans to

somebody overlooking

what is happening. For the audience

this adds more enigmas code

as they are left speculating

who this over looker is and

will he help the damsel in distress.

Iconography are the visual elements to the thriller genre. These elements include; settings, props, costumes, lighting, etc.

In my opinion we used iconography very affectively in our thriller film opening. For the opening and end scene we use a dark location and low key lighting this creates a tense and isolated atmosphere, this makes the female character vulnerable and helpless. We also used an isolated alley way which adds to the vulnerability when the girlfriend is being strangled, the isolation of the alley way makes her look defenceless. This appeals to the teenage audience as it adds suspense and thrill and keeps them wondering whether she will be okay.

In the murderers lair we use props such as; cocaine, knifes and blood. The knifes and blood add danger and are typical iconography for the thriller genre. The use of cocaine shows the addictive and obsessive nature of the male character. This attracts and entertains the teenage audience as these types of things happen in everyday society now and teenagers can relate.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

The narrative is the storyline and what takes place in the film. As we just produced an opening not much takes place. However in our opening a kidnap and assault takes place, if we was to make a whole film, these events in time would lead to other incident. As someone was seen watching the assault and then a hand knocks on to a door, this arises questions and suspicion to the audience and this therefore means our teenage target audience will stay engaged and want to watch on so they know the outcome.

NARRATIVE

This thriller opening is heading towards being an obsession based thriller film and therefore we see indications by the opening as the opening scene is a lair with lots of photos up of blonde females. However I think there is more than one theme as a kidnap takes place and therefore could lead to the film being a kidnap thriller. This is why our thriller film opening suits both male and female teenagers as it is not just one individual theme it also has many sub genres, for example one could be drugs as our main male character is seen sniffing cocaine in the opening.

THEMES

obsession kidnap drugs

Media language is how the ‘text’ gets it’s ‘message’ or meaning across to the audience. This is through;

1. Types of shots

2. Editing

MEDIA LANGUAGE

In our thriller opening we use a variety of shots, the types of shots we use differ depending on the scene, to create an effect. For example in the opening the camera pans on the photos of the girls to emphasis their vulnerability and highlight the amount of victims there is.

We used a point of view shot when ‘the girlfriend’ is falling to the floor unconscious, this adds effect as it is as if the audience are in her shoes.

The very first shot is a medium shot which establishes the dark and isolated location and also shows that the man is staring at the numerous photos on the wall this immediately means the enigma codes start for the audience and in result keeps them watching.

TYPES OF SHOTS

In our thriller film opening we used skilful editing techniques such as fading in and fading out, shot-reverse-shot, slow motion and a cut away.

We used fading and fading out to show the audience a change in time from the lair to the alley way. The fades clarify to the audience there has been a change in time or location and avoids confusion.

Shot-reverse-shot is used when the two characters are having a conversation down the alley way, we followed the 180-degree rule also to avoid confusing the audience.

Slow motion is used from a point of view shot when the female character is falling to the floor unconscious, this appeals to the audience as this creates suspense and realism.

A final twist is achieved through a cut away from inside the lair to a knock on the door outside. The final twist to the opening would keep the audience watching, to find out what happens next.

EDITING

Fade

In our thriller film opening we use a voice over at the beginning of a news report informing people about the

missing girls this appeals to the audience as they are then educated of what is going on and whether the photos of the

girls are the same girls being spoken about on the news report.

We use a non-diegetic soundtrack that goes perfectly with what occurs within the film, for example when the male

character is strangling the female character the soundtrack fastens up create suspense and thrill for the audience.

MUSIC

SIMILARITIES TO OTHER FILMS

Our thriller opening and ‘kiss the girls’ both use the titles the whole way through the opening. This shows the audience who does what and because they are at the bottom of the screen this doesn’t interfere with the film.

We took a unique twist to obsession, as we made our male character not only obsessed with blonde females but also

drugs. We leave a lot open to the audience as the opening is vague yet understandable and easy to follow. Our target

audience which is both male and female teenagers who are open minded and excitement chasers which means they are

likely to enjoy the enigmas and follow what goes on.

UNIQUE SELLING POINT