Note to the examiner.

Hi, my name is Jade Dibble and this year I worked independently  to create a thriller opening sequence. Initially I was part of a group of three but due to complications and disagreements in the group, I decided to work independently and thus took on the roles of filming, planning and editing. I enjoyed being able to express my creativity and have a physical representation of my ideas.

My sequence follows a disturbed, friendless teen who uses social media  to harrass and frighten her ex friends as a form of revenge, I followed the themes of internet catfishing and the growing obbsession and dependency with social media. You will find the first draft and final draft of my opening sequence below.

I really enjoyed this project and hope you enjoy watching.
Thank You.

First And Final Draft

These are my first and final draft of my film.

Evaluation Question 7

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


Editing

Throughout the process of creating my full product, I have a much more extensive knowledge of editing software and editing techniques. From the preliminary task, my ability when it comes to editing has grown immensly, and I am now able to identify editing techniques typically connoted with the thriller genre and apply them to pieces of film. During our preliminary task and the continuity exercise, my editing was not smooth or skillful, but I am now able to produce good pieces of film. Due to the fact that the only dialogue in the piece was a recorded voice over, I had to learn how to remove background noise and remove sound altogether from the camera recorded clips, and layer sound over clips.

Camera

When I was part of a group and we began filming our original piece, we didn't take into account the appearence of our camera shots and issues with lighting, as we were filming outdoors and pimarily at night time. When we watched back over our camera shots and saw that they were too dark and the quality wasn't good enough or up to the standard that we wanted it to be, and so when I decided to work independently I chose to create a narrative that allowed me to film in the daytime in settings with the correct aesthetic. During the preliminary task, my group and I only used medium and long shots and didn't use a variation of different shots, whereas in my final full product I used a range of shots including panning shots, extreme close ups and over the shoulder shots, and I have learnt to identify the effectivness of particular shots in thriller.

Narrative

The initial narrative my group and I decided on was social media based as we wanted the sequence to appeal to a young audeince by focusing on modern contemporary themes. The online YouTube community is one that is vastly growing and popular with young people, and so we chose that to be the basis of our narrative. However, when I began working independently I altered this to the use of social media and the "catfishing" trend online. This change in narrative turned out to be even more contemporary and easier to film, and through this process I learnt how to effectivley storyboard an edit storyboards, edit shots together and script write. I also had to write a monologue and learnt how to effectivley portray the narrative through the monologue voice over.

Overall, I learnt how to incooperate the the typical conventions of thriller within my own piece and effectivley research, plan and execute filming and editing.

Props List & Costume

List of props used throughout filming my opening sequence:

-Mobile Phones
-Laptops
-Swings
-Photographs
-Nature (fields, trees, river)
-Bench
-Bridge
-Pin Wall
-Sofa
-Internet
-Social Media Sites

Evaluation Question 6

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

Editing

Throughout the process of constructing this product I have learnt to effectivley use the editing software 'Premiere' using a variation of editing techniques such as colour effects, time lapses and inserting titles. I also learnt how to use Premiere to remove background noise from sound clips, which was essential to my own product because the only dialogue in my opening sequence was a voice-over I had recorded previously, and there was static background noise behind my voice that I needed to remove to make my voice over sound more professional.

Sound

I used an iPhone 5S voice recording application to record my voice over monologue and transported it to the apple mac and converted the file into a format suitable for the Premiere software. Prior to this project, I wouldn't have had the knowledge to do this, and now I have the experience and could further use Premier editing software and other technologies such as iphones and apple macs for projects in the future.

Camera

From the process of constructing my media product, I have learnt how to use professional cameras in a variation of shots and techniques, including panning shots, high/low angle shots, zooming and blur effects. It has helped me further my understanding of using filming technologies and how to use a camera to portray a multitude of different themes and narratives.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract your audience?

Characters

The characters in my media product are all teenagers, helping all teenagers relate to the characters and their issues with friendship and social problems. These teenagers fit the stereotype of being absorbed in technology and social media, and being vulnerable and gullible (falling for the "catfish"/fake account.) I have also used both male and female characters to attract both genders and multiple social groups.

I have used fast paced and quick cut editing to keep the audiences attention and conform to typical conventions of thriller products and keep the audience engaged adn on edge.The quiet, tense music throughout leaves the audience engaged and on their toes, which from my survey I can see young people enjoy in thrillers. The voice over monologue of the antagonist's struggle as a teenager which my target audience of teenagers can relate to and sympathise with.

The storyline focuses on the struggles in teen life, the obsession with social media and technology, cyber bullying, harrassment and vulnerability, and puts forward a moral message of internet safety, which would appeal to a younger audience as these are common issues teenagers in today's society face, appealling to them as they may find themselves identifying not only with the characters, but also with the narrative itself.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

My target audience for my media product would be young people from the ages of 16-25. At the start of the year I conducted a survey on 16&17 year olds on their preffered type of media product and 57% of them voted for pyschological thrillers. Being 17 myself, I know that my friends and I enjoy pyschological thrillers and horror thrillers. I alos wanted to my young people my target audience because the characters themselves are teenagers and struggle with common topics in teenage life such as the craze with social media and troubles in friendship groups and social life, so a younger audience can relate to the characters in my triller. The platform on which I would distribute my media product is Netflix, widely used as a film subscription service as an alternative to physical DVD or cinema, vastly popular with young people, and marketed through social media that primarily reaches the younger generation.

Exsisting Similar Product - "Friend Request"

Similarly to my previously analysed 2014 film "Unfriended," in 2016 "Friend Request" was released, produced by Weidmann & Berg Film Production. The narrative follows a young female who unfriends a suspicious facebook account and begins to resent her friends. The links between this narrative and my own are clear, the seemingly fake social media account harrassing a young female lead character, and the social issues faced by said character within her friendship group. Multiple shots of the female protagonist using technological appliences such as laptops and mobile phones are used, similarly to my own product, representing the stereotypical view of teenagers and young people and the "addiction" to technology. Also in comparison to my own product, the film uses an overlay editing effect of messgaes over digetic shots of the protagonist using a mobile phone, showing her thriving social life, as the atagonist in my own product speaks about having in the voice over monologue, as the equilibrium before the start of my thriller. To juxtapose the excessive use of technology, "Friend Request" also uses a range of outdoor shots, in the same way I have in my own product. The tagline for the movie is "Be Careful Who You Click With," an interesting play on words and metaphor for the carelessness of young people of social media, the whole basis for the narrative.

Evaluation Question 3

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

One of the hollywood big six, Universal Studios is my production company of choice. Being the fourth oldest production company worldwide, founded in 1912, Universal Studios is an iconic part of the motion picture association of america, known for making some of the most well-known movies around the world, including the works of Alfred Hitchcock.


Alfred Hitchcock & Universal

Perhaps one of the most iconic thrillers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" was co-produced by Universal Studios and Paramount pictures in 1960, changing the face of thriller/slasher media products, and best known for the shower murder scene, later nispiring other products such as bates motel. A special favourite of avid thriller fans, I am confident that Universal Studios is a fitting choice for production company as they carry the thriller genre well and appeal to a wide audience of thriller fans due to their past success.




Another, lesser-known example of the combined success of Alfred Hitchcock and Universal is the 1963 production of "The Birds," loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name. This media product was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" (wikipedia) in 2016 to the horror/thriller genre.





More recent thriller success




More recently, Universal has widespread success in the action/thriller genre, with productions such as the 1999 film "The Mummy," and the 2007 film "The Bourne Ultimatum." The Mummy is an action/horror/thriller/fantasy hybrid genre, and a loose remake of the 1932 feature. Reaching new levels of CGI and visual effects, The Mummy appealed to a wide audience of thriller lovers and is still a current and popular media product today.



A huge thriller success for Universal Pictures is the 2007 film "The Bourne Ultimatum," an action spy thriller loosley based on the earlier novel of the same name, and part of the popular Jason Bourne film series and franchise. Winnng 3 nominations at the 80th academy awards for: Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing, we can see that the action thriller was highly successful as the rest of the thrillers produced by Universal, grossing $69.3 million in its initial weekend release, which is why Universal Pictures is my choice of production company for my own thriller media product.



In terms of distribution, I would use an online subscription platform to distribute my film directly, rather than going to cinema first, and making it a Netflix Original product. I would choose to do so because of my younger target audience and the growing usage rates of the popular subscription service itself, with 93 million users worldwide. Netflix Original products are becoming more and more frequent, following the success of products such as "Orange Is The New Black," "Scream," and "House of Cards." Some of the most popular thriller products originally distributed by Netflix inclue "Bloodline," "Hemlock Grove," and "Paranoid." Focusing more directly at the younger adult and teenage audience, Netflix is an ideal distribution method.

To market my thriller product effectively, while primarily using below the line methods, I would definitley use Youtube video advertisements, to appeal to my target audience of internet users and younger people, as these advertisments are significantly less expensive than television advertisements, and youtube video advertisements are needed for monatised videos. In March of 2017, the advertisment and preview for "Casting JonBenet" began to appear in youtube video advertisements and on social media, primarily facebook. A fresh approach to a thriller documentary, "Casting JonBenet" is a prime example of an effective youtube advertisment, effectiveley marketing the Netflix Original show. As I previously mentioned, to use below the line marketing techniques, I would heavily market my media product through social media, including Facebook with 1.23billion monthly users and Instagram with 600million, as this reaches not only a vast majority of people, but primarily my target audience.

Evaluation Question 2

Updated Voice Over Script

After asking others to view my title sequence and ask for their feedback, many said that the catfishing narrative wasn't clear despite the voiceover monologue, so I decided to update my voiceover script to make the narrative of the antagonist losing her friends and creating a fake facebook account to catfish them for revenge. This is the updated voice over script:

"My name is Jade, but these people know me, as Elle. 83 million social media accounts are fake. One of them is me. Every friendship group has an outsider - and that was me. We were a tight-knit friendship group, we always had  good time. We did everything together, until they pushed me out. Josh was always too busy for anyone, especially me. He didn't like being ignored back. Hannah was the pretty one, never me, and she knew it. Jasmine was the smartest. Not so smart these days though. I know more about them than they think. They have no idea. Caitlin was the leader of the group who made all the decsions, always. Not anymore. Together they thought they were so special. Me? I was the outsider."

Voice Over Inspirations

The use of voice over/monologues is becoming a prominent feature in films as it helps to further deepen and explain the narrative and the inner thoughts of the characters. A prime example of where a voice over in film is used effectively is in the latest addition to the marvel movie franchise, Deadpool.

Throughout the film, the protagonist of Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds, provides a comedic voice over and monologue of his inner thoughts and dillemmas, and differently to my own voice over, the mise-en-scene and action around the protagonist freezes every time he provides commentary .

The voice over is effective because it adds to the comedic value of the film, and while that's not what I want for my own project, I have found it to add an eeriness and deepend the pyschological theme further, and I think it is interesting and unique to hear the inside of a pychopaths brain, and essentailly hear the inner monologue of the "Bad Guy" in a product rather than the protagonist.

Evaluation Question 1

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

Use of narrative

My narrative is greatly inspired by the thriller "se7en," in the idea of a variety of people who have done something wrong to the antagonist who seeks to eliminate them, metaphorically in the case of my own media product. I was also inspired by the vastly popular TV show catfish which documents the phenomenon of fake social media accounts targeting people for money, attention and a variety of different reasons. My narrative follows an emotionally unstable individual who has been rejected by her friendship group and seeks revenge by pulling them into online friendships through fake social media accounts. This narrative challenges other media products of this genre because it has a very current and modern theme that I have not seen being the focus of many media products, other than the movie "Unfriended" which I have taken a lot of inspiration from also and have analysed it previously in my blog. In terms of the other part of my narrative and the targeting of a group of people, this conforms to conventions of other media products such a "se7en" and "SAW" and many more.

Mise-En-Scene

I have filmed the majority of my media product outdoors but juxtaposed this with extreme close ups of technology and social media, challenging conventions of media products that are usually filmed primarily outdoors. Challenging typical conventions of real media products, there are no weapons or threatening objects shown throughout the opening sequence, as I wanted my antagonist to seem more pyschologically harmful than physically, as it is more current in the media and was easier for me to produce under the circumstances. In terms of costume, the actors throughout wore typical teenage clothing to juxtapose the normality of their nature and appearance with what is happening to them, and I also wanted the teenage age group to be clear throughout the characters. During an extreme close up time lapse of myself i'm wearing red lipstick slightly overlined to make my character seem eccentric and creepy. I also have taken inspiration from the opening sequence of "se7en" and used pictures of the "victims" on a plain wall and created time lapses of them showing the antagonist scribbling out their eyes in red pen.

Editing Techniques

I went back to edit my piece multiple times to ensure I was enitrely happy with it, and I experienced some difficulties with the sound editing that needed correcting multiple times. Because the only dialogue and sound in my entire piece is the voiceover, I wanted to make sure the narrative was completley clear through the voiceover and made multiple adjustments to it in order to do so. When scripting the voiceover, I watched the completed filmed piece and wrote in time to certain shots, to make the catfishing narrative clear. After adding the completed voiceover to the editing software, I realised there was a great deal of background noise underlying the recording, and had to figure out how to remove that the best I could.Voiceovers are typical of thriller openings as they help to create the personal dillemma and eerie atmosphere. I sped up certain shots by X100 to make the movement in the shots jittery and static, conforming to conventions of exsisting thriller products, for example the shots of the other characters on the swings, making something quite childlike and innocent quite scary, speeding up shots conforms to exsisting thriller products, used to create the same jittery effect.. I overlayed a few shots of computer screens, messaging apps etc on top of the characters face who is currently recieving the messgaes, to show their reactions to the messages as soon as they recieve them. I also slowed down some shots by X50, to create a calm mood after the fast paced editing and quick shots, which isn't typical in thriller products.

Use of Camera

Conforming to features of exsisting thriller pieces, I use many extreme close ups and close ups throughout my opening sequence, of characters faces to show their emotions and of the antagonists eyes and the eyes of the multiple protagonists, to show the closeness of the relationships between the characters. I also use panning shots of nature and trees juxtaposed to panning shots of the pictures on the wall of the catfish victims, which uses the conventions of typical thriller products, many of which feature photographs of the victims to depersonify them, widely used in pyschological thrillers. I used a zooming effect on the phone screens when each protagonist was recieving messages from the fake social media account to bring the audiences focus to this, used widely in thriller products to focus the audience on a particular character or feature in the piece that maybe wouldn't have stood out without the zoom. When we can see the protagonists recieiving messages initially, I used long camera shots to show Josh sitting on a wall on his phone, Jasmine sat on a bench on her phone and Caitlin walking whilst on her phone, to establish their character and make it clear to the audience they are the people in the pictures.

Special Effects

The titles I used in my opening sequence are in a typography that appears to be typed on a computer, fitting with the themes of technology and the growing social dependency of the internet and social media. This uses a typical feature in exisisting media products however usually it is written typography, primarily used in horror thrillers. I also used time lapses rather than flashbacks to show the passing of time rather than looking back, as the background story to the narrative is explained through the voiceover, and because our sequence is only the first two minutes, I wanted to avoid flashbacks for fear of it appearing trailer-like in nature. I used the time lapses to show the stunted mind-set of the schizophrenic and pyschotic antagonist, and hoped the unsettling nature of the time lapses would be symbolic of the antagonists mindset, a common feature throughout thriller products.

Showcase Platforms - Netlifx

Netlflix is an American film and entertainment subscription service founded in 1997 in Calafornia. Online, it provides streaming media and video-demand online, however it was only in 2013 that Netflix branched out into film and television production and disitribution, with its first debuting series "House Of Cards." In 2016 alone, Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films, more than any other network, and as of January 2017, the service now has over 93 million subscribers worldwide.

Some of the most popular Netflix orignial series/films inclue:

1. House of Cards

An american political drama series, an adaptation of the BBC mini-series of the same name, starring Kevin Spacey,  Robin Wright and Kate Mara.




2. Orange is the new Black

American comedy-drama prison series based on Piper Kermans memoir published in 2010, airing it's fifth season in June 2017, starring Taylor Shilling, Laura Prepon and Michael J. Harney.


3. Scream

A more recent addition to the collection of Netflix originals, Scream is an American slasher series, following a string of murders, which premiered in June 2015.


With online media streaming becoming increasingly popular and chosen over physical DVD copies or TV series, I feel that an appropriate platform for my thriller would be the Netflix subscription service, especially since a large chunk of the services 93 million subscribers are teenagers to adults, the nature of my media product would be better suited for an online streaming service.

Filming Locations

I wanted to use the juxtapositon of technology and nature to symbolise the juxtapostion of my character and the other chracacters. I also wanted to feature a range of outdoor location shots to represent the common thread throughout the sequence monologue and the actual name of the sequence: "The Outsider." I also filmed inside my own home because, influenced by the movie "se7en," I created a picture wall with images of the antagonist's "victims" pinned up. I used a range of outdoor and indoor shots throughout the sequence to ensure my use of mise-en-scene was varied and to keep the title sequence interesting and engaging.

Second Edit

We visited the college again to utilise the editing facilities and complete a seond edit, now with the majority of my shots completed. I think that completing a first edit definitley gave me a clearer idea on how I wanted my finished product to look. I incorperated a range of extreme close ups of technology with panning shots of nature and trees to stress the juxtaposition of my character to the other characters.
I have editied in an omnious soundtrack of non-digetic music to play quietly over the entire 2 minute sequence.
 I also filmed a time lapse of each of the other cast members on siwngs together, to emphasise the closeness of the friendship group. When speeding this up by X100, it gave the selection of shots an awkward and jumpy feel, typical of thrillers. I need to revisit the college a third and final time to edit in the monologue I have already recorded and create my titles.

I have also filmed and edited panning shots of pictures of the other characters and myself pinned onto a wall and have created a time-lapse of me physically pinning them to the wall. I have also then later in the sequence filmed an identical pan of the photos with the eyes of the characters other than myself crossed out in red pen, inspired by "se7en."

Voice-Over Script

"83 million social media accounts are fake. One of them is me. Every friendship group has an outsider - and that was me. We were a tight-knit friendship group, we always had  good time. We did everything together, until they pushed me out. Josh was always too busy for anyone, especially me. He didn't like being ignored back. Hannah was the pretty one, never me, and she knew it. Jasmine was the smartest. Not so smart these days though. I know more about them than they think. They have no idea. Caitlin was the leader of the group who made all the decsions, always. Not anymore. Together they thought they were so special. Me? I was the outsider."

Once I had completed my second edit of my title sequence I wrote a voice-over monologue from the antogonists inner thoughts which I will later edit in as non-digetic soundtrack. My voiceover will provide viewers with a more clear narrative as there is no digetic sound in the sequence. I wrote the monolgue in time to correspond with certain shots.

Casting

I selected four people aswell as myslef to feature in my thriller opening. I play the antagonist which is unconventional as i'm female and typically antagonists are male, so i'm challenging typical conventions of thriller.





I also cast Hannah Martin as one of the "victims" as she has the appearance of a very stereotypical young female and I had pictures of the two of us together to already feature in the sequence.








The only male I cast in my opening sequence is Josh East becuase I also had photographs already with him and he studies drama a level so is a skilled actor.










I also cast Jasmine Greene because her aesthetic and look are unique because of her hair and I thought she would be an interesting feature of my opening sequence.






The final person I cast other than myself is Caitlin Elward because she was available to film in any location and we have multiple photographs together that I could feature in my opening.

Analysis of "Se7en" opening sequence

Many elements of the narrative for my thriller opening were inspired by the movie "Se7en," where the protagonist, played by Brad Pitt, hunts down offenders of the seven deadly sins. The ways I have taken inspiratoion from the narrative are that the protagonist played by me is harrasing others online because of things they did wrong. I decided to analyse the opening sequence of "Se7en" to gain further inspiration for my own thriller opening.

Mise-En-Scene
Throughout the opening title sequence, some elements of mise-en-scene that were most prominent were papers, notebooks, writing and photographs. We see who we can assume to be the protagonist, based off of what we know as the narrative, to be profiling his "victims" through writing and photographs. Quite eerily, he crosses through the eyes of a photograph of a young boy with a marker pen, depersonifying the boy in the photograph and as we don't see the eyes of anyone in this title sequence, a quite isolated and eerie atmosphere is created. I will take inspiration from this in that I will have shots of photographs of my catfish "victims" and to make my own narrative more clear, I will have pictures of myself with this victims also, and of them together, to suggest there is a motive for my character. Also throughout the title sequence, we see a mise-en-scene of weaponry, suggesting death and violence are prominent themes throughout the movie. We also see some drawings of body parts, coforming to typical conventions of the thriller/horror genre.

Camera
Throughout this particular title sequence, there is a lot of use of extreme close up shots, typical of the thriller genre but perhaps untypical, because while usually extreme close ups are of faces and people to portray emotion, these extreme close ups were of the razor blades and inside barrel of a gun, highlighting these propps are improtant and significant to the narrative. We also see a sideways extreme close up of a notebook being written in, further suggesting the idea of profiling anf note taking on his victims. I find these narrative enigmas extremely engaging to the audience.

Sound
The entire sequence begins with a soundbridge of low, creaky music from a black screen to the extreme close up of a book. This music instantly connotes the thriller genre, setting the audience up with a tense atmosphere. The music throughout progresses to a high pitched screeching sound, that progresses to be louder and more intense as the sequence goes on. Due to the fact that my thriller opening will also feature a voice over monologue, I want my non-dogetic music soundtrack to be quiter but eerie and high pitched, but less intense as I want the atmosphere of my thriller to be on-edge and jumpy.

Editing
The typography of the titles we see throughout the sequence is a brihgt electric white, that connotes technology and is very sharp, the type of typography I want for my thriller opening as it will correspond well to my technological themes, and if I place them on top of outdoor shots showcasing nature, the juxtaposition of settings will alienate the audeince and keep them interested and on edge. While this is true for some of the typography, names are in a seeminlgy hand-written font, corresponding with the mise-en-scene of notebooks, pages and writing. The quick cut editing of shots is in time to the music, and the fast paced editing creates confusion and suspense.

First Edit

I went to Bridgend Collage campus for media to create a first edit of my thriller opening sequence using premier editing software. Due to weather issues, I have only been able to film the shots indoors, but throughout the next week I will be filming outdoor shots. When editing in the college this week, I used a variation of dissolve transistion effects to create an eerie effect, contrasted with quick cut editing to create the tense atmosphere typical of thrillers. I added a creepy, quiet non-digetic music soundtrack to play throughout the two-minute opening and a self recorded monologue voiceover for 1 minute of the sequence.

Codes and Conventions of Thriller

Changes, Developments & Storyboard

Due to disagreements and conflict that cannot be resolved within our filming team, we have decided it will be most beneficial for all of our opening sequences if we split into two groups. For the rest of this project I am going to be working independently. I have been inspired by the reality TV show catfish, which entails fake social media accounts stalking and pyschologically abusing people over the internet. Because I still wanted to incorperate the technological themes in my independent project, I have decided  on an online stalker/catfish narrative. I have created a sotryboard of shots to work from over the next week (as follows.) I want to work with the juxtaposition of technology and nature with including shots of trees contrasting with the technology and social media heavily incorperated within the opening. As it is January, trees are still without leaves, which creates an omnious and creepy atmosphere, which I want in my thriller.