"Killjoy"

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

In January, our preliminary task was produced. All members of the group were somewhat inexperienced; none of us have studied GCSE Media Studies. Our knowledge of film elements, including camerawork (e.g., close-ups), editing techniques (e.g., match-on action) and sound (e.g., diegetic), was limited. Furthermore, we were relatively unfamiliar with the technological equipment required to reproduce these production techniques in film form. Therefore, we researched narrative, cinematography, sound, mise-en-scéne, and editing, thus ensuring that these elements together constituted the essence of film in our media product.

The above GIF image is an example of the editing technique match-on action: Kaden is visualised walking down a corridor for our preliminary task. This action is shown from two camera perspectives; from the corridor itself, and from within the 'interview room'. One thing I would alter, if given the opportunity, is change the match-on action to Kaden opening the door. I consider this a more visually interesting match-on action in comparison to a person walking down a corridor. Furthermore, there is a delay when the perspective of the camera changes to that of inside the interview room; Kaden's character appears further away from the door than he does in the previous shot. 

Above is an example of match on-action from our finished media product. As you can see, the match-on action is of Kaden and Ty's characters leaving their homes via the front door. Our use of this editing technique has improved from the preliminary task because we ensured that the transition from one camera perspective to another was perfectly timed. Therefore, this avoided a continuity error because the scene continued to flow. Also, the match-on action of two mysterious characters opening/closing a door was more compelling in comparison to the match-on action of a person walking down a corridor. 

The above screen grab shows a shot/reverse shot of Kaden's character being interviewed by Ty's character during the preliminary task. A limitation of our use of the shot/reverse shot is that the sound is ineffectively asynchronous to the movements on screen during the scene in which Ty is mocking Kaden. Therefore, this conveys the conversation between the characters as artificial. 

During our actual thriller opening, we did not use dialogue to ensure that our opening sequence is ambiguous and enigmatic. However, we did use a non-dietetic musical score. Variations in the pitch, tone, volume and rate of the music were used in conjunction to the scene. For example, when Kaden's character points a gun towards Ty's character, the music stops completely and a gun shot is heard. Ultimately, parallel sound matched to the action onscreen enabled us, as a production crew, to build up suspense when appropriate. 

Once edited, it appeared that we had obeyed the 180-degree rule during this scene (above) of the preliminary task. We ensured that the camera did not move more than 180 degrees (half a circle) around the characters. However, the cameraman misplaced the camera during filming which meant that we unintentionally had disobeyed the continuity rule. Fortunately, we were able to mirror the footage during the editing phase of the film. This gave the impression that the camera was in fact placed in an appropriate position. 

Our actual thriller film opening did not feature characters in diegetic dialogue. Therefore, the 180-degree rule was not technically used. However, part of our opening contained Kaden and Ty walking towards a car (prop). Therefore, we ensured that the camera did not move more than 180 degrees (half a circle) around the car (above). This was  improvement upon the preliminary task because we did not have to flip any footage in order to obey the 180-degree rule. 

A close-up of a gun

In the preliminary task, camera shots were used basically (e.g., a medium close-up of characters' faces). However, for our actual thriller film opening, we were more experienced. Therefore, shot types were used creatively to appeal to our target audience (e.g, a close-up of props such as a gun (to build tension)).  

Finally, after experimenting and becoming confident with editing techniques, we decided to use a split-screen special effect for our final media product. The split-screen was effective in juxtaposing characters and their actions (e.g. on the left-hand side of the screen, Ty, a college student, grabs his car keys, whilst on the right-hand side, Kaden, an assassin, grabs a gun.) 

An example of the split-screen special effect in action

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

Kaden's Nikon D3200

We have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this media product: 

Sam and Kaden's digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) were used to film the opening sequence to our media product. Kaden's DLSR was a Nikon D3200; Sam's was a Fujifilm FinePix S2980. The cameras were extremely useful because they enabled us to produce a HD quality video. Ultimately, improved the appearance of our film opening. A limitation of the hardware observed during the editing process is that Kaden's DSLR offered a 1080p HD resolution, whereas Sam's camera offered a 720p HD resolution. This is a limitation because it meant that there was a lack of consistency in the quality between shots. However, this limitation was overcome by Kaden, our editor, who downgraded the quality of the footage filmed on his DSLR to 720p.

Tripod

This is a tripod (left). We intended to use a tripod to stabilise our footage because: the purpose of the hardware is to prevent the camera from wobbling. We used a tripod in our media product to obtain a steady panning shot of Ty and Kaden walking towards the car. However, the camera operator was too choppy with the camera panning technique. This caused the motion of the scene moving across the screen to appear jagged and jumpy looking, as opposed to smooth. To overcome this, we prevailed by again using the tripod for when Kaden and Ty's characters were opening the car doors. Its use for this particular scene was effective because the camera did not require movement (panning) once balanced on the tripod head.

Scanner

A scanner was used so that files and folders could be uploaded and shared to Google Drive. A scanner was an effective piece of hardware because it enabled all members of the group to access relevant materials (e.g., location shoots). Also, the accessibility of the drive enabled the group to readily contribute to resources (e.g. storyboards.) Ultimately, the scanner improved group communication; it allowed for materials to be circulated and discussed digitally. 

iMacs, and PCs running Windows 7, were used to update our blogs using Blogger, a blog-publishing service. A limitation of using computers is that they are in high-demand by students, so their availability is sparse. Therefore, I occasionally updated my blog from home using my Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook. I used Google Chrome as a search engine to research information because I found that it was a more user-friendly web browser in comparison to Safari; it is faster, simpler and securer.

When editing our film opening, we originally used iMovie. iMovie was useful in the respect that it was readily accessible on the iMacs in the sixth-form centre. However, our editor found that iMovie's editing options were limited, specifically the split-screen effect.  Therefore, the editor began using Premiere Pro CC, a pre-installed editing software on their personal MacBook Pro. The editor was experienced with the software, therefore they were able to greater control the split-screen element of our media product.

The media product was edited using Premiere Pro CC

The non-diegetic soundtrack to our opening sequence was composed using Logic Pro. Read more about that here. 

Our titles and the film logo for Killjoy were produced using a third-party website, http://www.dafont.com/. DaFont was effective because it had a variety of interesting fonts which could be downloaded and used within our media product. Ultimately, we decided to use the "3rd Man" font made by Bumbayo Font Fabrik because it represented the gritty atmosphere of our film opening. 

"Killjoy" title

Our fictional production and distribution companies were created using a online logo designer and Adobe Photoshop.

SD cards were used to store footage. They were also used by the editor to transfer data between the iMacs in the sixth-form centre and his personal MacBook Pro. A limitation of the SD cards is that they held relatively small amounts of information. Therefore, USB memory sticks were used to store and transfer larger files.



Finally, our finished media product was uploaded to YouTube, a video-sharing website. YouTube is useful because it is an easily accessible platform. 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Generic conventions 

Hitman

The characters featured in our media product are conventional to the thriller film genre; Kaden plays a hit-man, a character typically used in thriller films. His character is inspired by the likes of Agent 47 from Hitman: Agent 47 (2015) and Anton Chigurgh from No Country for Old Men (2007). A hitman-inspired role is effective in opening in our film opening because the character symbolises generic conventions of thriller films (e.g., violence, crime). Therefore, the hitman is a thrilling character for our target audience. 

Ty plays a student. Generally-speaking, students are not overly featured in thriller films. However, students are the age (under 18) of our target audience. Therefore, Ty's role directly appeal to our target audience because his character traits are somewhat relatable. Furthermore, in recent years film franchises such as Scream which star "students" have been given TV reboots, and are very popular with our intended target audience. 

Narration 

The narrative to our opening has taken inspiration from the scriptwriters of American Beauty (1999). Although the opening sequence of Killjoy (our media product) itself follows a linear narrative, fast-paced editing is used to ensure that our film is riveting. Our opening ends on a cliffhanger; then, it will jump backwards in time, indicated by a flashback. This is what happens in American Beauty. Therefore, our narrative engages the target audience because they are given a brief insight into an element of the film's narrative. However, they have to continue watching the film to fully-understand the build-up to its climactic moment. 

Music

The non-diegetic musical score to our opening was composed by my brother, Sam Storm.  Sam was influenced by the upbeat and catchy soundtrack to Kill Bill (2003), and Quentin Tarantino films in general. Sam's orchestral score evokes emotion and sets the tone of our film opening as a dark atmospheric thriller. 

Mise-en-scene

For the most part, Kaden's character's costume was influenced by Agent 47 in Hitman: Agent 47. He wears a black suit, which symbolises the dark atmospheric tone to our film opening; white shirt; red tie (to symbolise that Kaden's character is sinister); however also blue shoes, which suggests that Kaden is inexperienced as a hitman. Kaden carries a handgun (prop): this was influenced by Anton Chigurgh from No Country for Old Men (2007); the character carries a captive bolt pistol, which defines his character. A weapon is a source of anxiety, which is suspenseful for the audience because they anticipates its usage. Mise-en-scéne in our opening is effective because the audience are able to identify that Kaden is a "hitman" without diegetic dialogue (as suggested by audience feedback). 

Cinematography

Close-ups (camerawork) are extensively used in our film opening. Close-ups capture characters' emotions, or lack thereof. For example, a close-up shows Kaden's motionless facial expression as he shoots Ty's character. The camera shot emphasises his character's psychopathic personality. Therefore, the audience may take a disliking to our antagonist due to his lack of compassion. We took inspiration of close-ups used in The Shining (1980); particularly the scene in which Jack (Jack Nicholson) breaks through the bathroom door, shouting "Here's Johnny!" The use of close-ups in The Shining were effective because they emphasised Jack's descent into madness. 

A panning shot is used in our opening sequence to show Kaden and Ty walking in the same direction. This shot is effective because it builds suspense in the respect that the audience do not know whether the characters will meetup. Incorporation of a panning shot was influenced by The Dark Knight (2008), a superhero film popular with our target audience. We were particularly inspired by the camera tracking of robbers during the bank heist scene. 

Editing

To attract our target audience, we ensured that our film opening had a unique selling proposition (USP): we achieved this during the editing phase of our media product by incorporating a split-screen special effect into it. The split-screen is effective because it is infrequently used in thrillers, so it is unique. Therefore, our media product stands out in a sea of competitors. Our incorporation of a split-screen was partially influenced by Kill Bill (2003). In Kill Bill, one half of the split-screen shows 'The Bride' lying in a coma, whereas the other shows an assassin (Elle) prepare an antidote. Ultimately, a split-screen is effective in showing simultaneous scenes without the need for excessive cutting. 

Our target audience are easily distracted. Therefore, we ensured that our opening is fast-paced by using obtrusive editing to retain their attention. 

A fade-out signifies a conventional cliffhanger conclusion to our opening. This ensures that the audience will continue viewing our opening to witness the dramatic aftermath to our plot twist.  Our use of this editing technique was influenced by Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994), in which a fade-out takes place after an unexpected car accident. A fade enables an audience to catch their breath after a dramatic scene. 

Pulp Fiction car crash

4. Who would be the target audience for your media product?

The target audience to our media product is the 'Under 18 years old' age demographic because a large percentage of audience research came from this age bracket. We rated our film 15 which ensures that it is accessible by the majority of our target audience. 

Sam, the director of our group, produced a mind map imagining a 'typical' member of our target audience: 

It is likely that this average imaginary 16-year-old member of our target audience would watch our film because: 

• Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), a musician that they "listen to", stars in the film.
• They "would watch" the film Hitman: Agent 47, a crime/thriller film which inspired the costume of Kaden's character. 
• They "watch [The Walking Dead] on TV", which contains violence, and Breaking Bad, which contains crime. Killjoy contains these generic thriller conventions, so it directly appeals to this 'typical' imaginary member of our target audience. 
• They fit our target age bracket ('Under 18 years old.') 

We showed our completed film opening to a few members of our target audience: 



The audience feedback suggests that:

• most respondents recognised our film opening as a "dramatic" "thriller", which suggests that the genre of our media product is explicit. 
• respondents found the split-screen "clever" and "interesting", suggesting that the editing of the film opening was effective in capturing the target audiences's attention.
• respondents summarised the opening positively, using phrases such as "ambitious, exciting and suspenseful."
• all respondents said that they wanted to watch the film in the cinema; one interviewee stated that they "want to see what happens", which suggests that our dramatic cliffhanger/plot twist was effective in leaving the audience at the edge of their seats, wanting more. 

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

Evalulation question 3 from Charlie Watts

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Ty's (a member of our group) character is the protagonist in Killjoy (our media product.) From our research, we identified that films of the thriller genre often place the archetypal innocent victim characters into a suspicious, life-threatening or terrorising situation. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935), Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is at a London music hall theatre when shots are fired. This is similar to the opening sequence of our media product; Ty’s character is in a car when a handgun (prop) is pointed in his direction. Therefore, placing our protagonist in a peculiar situation is unexpected, so it shocks the audience and draws their attention by generating mystery.

A shooting in an unconventional setting

Ty in character

 The characteristics of the protagonist in our films are noticeably comparable to those of the conventional "innocent victim" characters featured is Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises. Generally, “slasher” films feature a narrative about a psychotic killer stalking young victims. Therefore, in the pre-production phase of the film, we decided that Ty’s character would be young to symbolise innocence. This is because youthfulness emphasises the vulnerability of Ty’s character; an innocent victim dealing with deranged adversaries.

Kaden in character

On the other hand, Kaden plays the antagonist, an assassin. We feel that Kaden’s character is representative of the stereotypical cold-hearted and emotionless trained assassins regularly featured in thrillers. For example, Kaden’s character is costumed in a suit. We based his costume on Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) in Hitman. Agent 47 is represented as intelligent, insuppressible and invisible. Therefore, Kaden’s character has been written to occupy similar character traits. For example, the invisibility of Kaden’s character is suggested by the character secretly hiding in the back seat of the protagonist’s car. Also, similarly to Agent 47, the antagonist in Killjoy is wearing a red tie. We feel that the colour red symbolises that Kaden’s character is merciless, which promotes the stereotypical representation of assassins as pitiless.

Hitman: character inspiration for Kaden's costume

Furthermore, Kaden’s character is carrying a handgun (prop). The handgun builds suspense in the respect that the audience are anticipating its use. Weapons are often used to convey characters in thrillers. For example, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), the antagonist in No Country for Old Men, uses a captive bolt pistol as an iconic weapon to kill his victims.  The handgun of Kaden’s character is used similarly. The prop symbolises Kaden’s character reputation as a merciless assassin, without the character requiring much dialogue. Therefore, the weapon is enigmatic because the audience will question the assassin’s motive for shooting people.


Ultimately, our opening sequence represents males because it does not feature female actors/characters. Therefore, our opening reinforces the stereotype that men are the dominant gender, thus they are involved in action and conflict. Our characters also fit well with the thriller character conventions of innocent victims and assassins. Therefore, this enables our target audience to relate to our characters, which increases the realism of our film and the social groups that they represent.

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

Below are nine distinct frames from our finished media product which either use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real thriller film openings.

FRAME #1

Our initial shot introduces the audience to the split-screen. A close-up of two bleeping alarm clocks (props) and their displayed time suggests that our opening sequence will centre around the morning routine of two contrasting characters. This is because two different clocks are used - one analog, one digital - which suggests that they are the property of different people. Also, the fact that the clocks display the time of approximately 10am suggests that our opening will follow a linear narrative.

SE7EN

The stopping of the alarms is ambiguous: the audience only see two hands placed over the clocks. Therefore, they do not yet know the characters who own the alarm clocks, or whose hands are stopping them. This is similar to the first frame of SE7EN (1995), which features a book being flickered: the audience do not who is flickering through the book, or who owns the book; only hands are shown. This suggests that it is enigmatic for our opening sequence to not show faces and feature an inanimate object (e.g., clock). The mystery question of "whose hands are those?" builds suspense and tension; crucial conventions of the thriller genre.

Furthermore, the clocks are symbolic of time. In our opening, it appears that Ty's days are limited because he is being stalked by an assassin. Therefore, the abrupt stopping of the alarm clock foreshadows the abrupt ending to the Ty's life. 

FRAME #2:

The frame of our film title ("Killjoy") incorporates generic thriller conventions. The word itself is foretelling of the narrative of the film; "kill" suggests that a character will be killed. The use of the phrase "kill" in the title is typical of thriller films; Kill the Messenger (2014), The Killing Room (2009), and Good Kill (2014).  

The Killing Room

Generally, thriller films do not include positive words in the title (e.g., "joy"). However, our group decided to include the word "joy" alongside "kill" in our title to form the oxymoron "killjoy". We felt that the phrase "killjoy" symbolised characters; "kill" is associated with the practice of an assassin (played by Kaden), whereas "joy" is associated with an innocent victim (played by Ty). Therefore, the words are juxtaposing, which emphasises that the characters featured in our opening are contrasting. 

Typically, thriller films feature a white font on a black background; for example, Deja Vu (2006).  Therefore, we agreed to use a black background for our film title; it is dark, so it has negative connotations of mystery and death, conventions of thrillers. The white also juxtaposes the black. Furthermore, titles often represent the tone of a film, therefore ours is gritty to symbolise the rundown suburban setting of the opening. 

The title itself is white so that it appears bigger and bolder, therefore it attracts the attention of our audience. Furthermore, the title partially splits into two words: "kill" and "joy"; this mirrors the split-screen effect of the film opening, and symbolises the conflicting personalities of the antagonist and protagonist, which forms the basis of our narrative. 

FRAME #3:

The incarnations of
"Bond" and his guns

In order for our film opening to have thrilling and suspenseful conventions, we ensured that camerawork and editing was incorporated strategically. We used a variety of shots, especially close-ups: we felt that close-ups emphasised the raging emotions of our antagonist as he prepared to pursue his victim. Specifically, the frame above shows a close-up of the props (an element of mise-en-scéne) car keys and handgun. The use of a close-up of a weapon in our opening is effective because it connotes aggression which may intimidate the audience. Furthermore, thriller films typically use weapons (e.g., James Bond's firearms). Therefore, the hit-man's handgun shows conventional iconography of typical thriller films. 

However, it is untypical for thriller film openings to feature an unexciting prop, e.g., car keys. Therefore, the split-screen special effect (editing) is effective in this instance because it contrasts the gun with car keys: this is compelling for the audience because it builds tension. Furthermore, the fade-out after this frame indicates a time lapse, which intrigues the audience because they will wonder whether the weapon has been used or not. 

FRAME #4

To emphasise the grittiness and authenticity of our film opening, we mainly use natural lighting to reflect the realist narrative of our media product. For example, natural daylight shows Ty's character flossing his teeth: this presents the viewer with a 'real life' feel; therefore the character is relatable through storytelling. In this instance, the lighting is not conventional because the frame was filmed in daylight, which is associated with happiness and brightness. Generally, thriller films feature dark and dim lighting to build suspense and tension; generic thriller conventions. For example, the opening of SE7EN (1995) uses a dull and dim opening. By challenging thriller conventions through lighting, viewers are given a false sense of security, so are unsuspecting of the climactic ending to our opening. 

An example of dark lighting in SE7EN

However, the lighting is dimmer for the side of the split-screen which shows Kaden's character. This was achieved by closing window blinds. Therefore, this creates a sinister and dark tone which is reflective of the narrative to our opening. Also, the dark lighting symbolises the "dark triad" of the assassin's personality. It is typical for dark lighting to follow typical thriller iconography; low key lighting generates mystery, a thriller convention. In addition, the dark and bright lighting of the settings to our opening sequence are contrasting. This builds tension. 

FRAME #5

Hitman

Our antagonist (Kaden) and protagonist (Ty) are introduced together by means of a split-screen effect (editing). They are central to the framing, which suggests that they are main characters whose roles are of equal significance. Throughout the opening, the split-screen is continually used. This emphasises that the characters are contrasting, however partially similar too. During this frame, the characters are dismembered (their faces are not shown); this may increase tension and create mystery, a generic convention of thriller films. The frame uses natural lighting to show close-ups of the costume of the characters: Ty is wearing a "hoodie", which symbolises the youthfulness and innocence of his character; Kaden is wearing a buttoned blazer. Kaden's costume is darker than Ty's, which suggests that he is the antagonist. This is because it is conventional for anti-heroes in thriller films to wear dark colours to coincide with their dark personality; for example, Agent 47, the merciless assassin in Hitman (2007), and Hitman: Agent 47 (2015), whose Kaden's costume was based upon, wears a black suit. 

FRAME #6

Our setting is partially set in the homes of our characters. It is conventional for thriller films to use ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen. The effect of this convention is that thrillers have an element of realism alongside an element of drama, which is suspenseful and exciting for the audience. For example, in World War Z, a zombie outbreak erupts in an ordinary, metropolitan area. However, our opening is also set in a car park: the car park is isolated, as indicated by the sudden stop in the non-diegetic music, immediately followed by low volume dietetic sound. A car park is a conventional setting for thrillers; P2 (2007) was set in an underground car park. The effect of using a conventional quiet setting (i.e, car park) in our thriller is that it allows for jump scares; the audience are unsuspecting of Kaden aiming a gun at Ty in the backseat of a vehicle. Therefore, our setting enables us to build suspense, a generic thriller convention. 

World War Z

FRAME #7

This frame depicts the genre of our film opening: thriller. In the frame, our narrative revolves around he antagonist aiming a handgun (prop) at the protagonist. The scene then fades-out (editing), and a diegetic gunshot sound effect is heard. As aforementioned (see frame 3), it is conventional for thrillers to contain weapons (e.g., in No Country for Old Men (2007), Josh Brolin's character carries a captive bolt pistol.) It is even more frequent for thrillers to include gunfire. The effect of gunfire in our thriller is that it is a source of anxiety, so it keeps our target audience alert and on the edge of their seats. Our genre is reinforced by a plot twist: our post-production audience feedback (see evaluation question 4) suggests that viewers do not expect Kaden's character to shoot Ty's character. Plot twists are an effective convention of thriller films because they stun and amaze the audience, so viewers want to continue watching. 

FRAME #8

The eighth frame shows a split-screen special effect, which was used extensively in our opening sequence. In order put the frame into split-screen mode, editing software was required. The split-screen is effective because it is not typically used in the opening sequence to thriller films, therefore it is our unique selling preposition (UPS). The technique depicts events occurring simultaneously, which ensures that our media product retains a linear narrative. Ultimately, the split-screen enables two scenes to inter-cut which establishes continuity; giving viewers the impression that the action is unfolding with spatiotemporal consistency. A prolific director to incorporate split-screen into their film is Quentin Tarantino. He used a split-screen effect in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) to give the audience a sense of being in two places at once. 

FRAME #9

This frame is suspenseful. The close-up of Ty and Kaden's characters shows that they are walking in a similar direction. Furthermore, the background is the same for both sides of the split-screen, which depicts the antagonist and protagonist as in the same setting (of mise-en-scéne). From Kaden's mostly motionless facial expression, the close-up emphasises the assassin's psychopathic character traits.  The character's red tie (costume) is central to the frame of his side of the split-screen. Historically, red has been associated with sacrifice, danger and courage, which is symbolic of the tragic ending to our narrative. During this frame, the pace of the non-diegetic music picks up in correspondence to the pace of the editing. It is conventional for score music in thriller films to be tense at the most climactic part of the film. For example, in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Wu-Tang Chan's soundtrack picks up in pace as at the moment Elle is about to enter the bride's room and kill her. Ultimately, the split-screen is effective in building tension.