Audience Feedback

After sending our thriller sequence to family and friends via the internet, we got much positive feedback although there were a few areas where they didnt understand or found confusing,
The positive feedback we got was from a range of ages, including anyone up to 67 years old.



Here is some of the qaulitative feedback we recieved-

• Alexander wright-" i loved the after effects you used, it really contributed to the period of time and the costumes reflected the era".
• Molly Finchley- "I Thought it was good, but i found the ending confused i didnt really understand why it went back or did it go forward?".
• Jack Pipe- "i thought the soudn effects you used were cool, it suited the actions going on, although the broadcast at the beginning was a little hard to understand, because of the strong american accent".
• Hayley Guy- "i watched alot of the videos, and this one was definatley my favourite! i love history and the electric chair was such a good prop!".

Our thriller sequence- Resurgence was also uploaded onto Youtube, for public viewing, here daily the amount of views increased.

A comment we recieved on our youtube video was from a girl called Holl Finlay.

hollfinlay 5 hours ago - and her comment was "my favourite."

We also did some quantative research, this was based on numerical statistics, which we discovered by giving questionaires to the public.
The results are as followed-
82% of the public said that found it very interesting, intriguing and generally liked it.
18% of the public said that they found it hard to understand, got confused and lost track of the meaning of sequence.

Task 7- looking back at your peliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at our preliminary task, i felt since then i have learnt a lot more skills and knowledge of various programmes, such as final cut pro, sound track pro and using after effects.
By comparing screengrabs from our Preliminary task we can establish areas where we have progressed in.Here are some of our premliminary screengrabs of our project-


From this screengrab, we can see how basic our set was. We put hardly any planning and preparation into our set. we Simply used the film studio space, but a desk, chair, telephone and carpet to give a slight atmosphere and gave our main character a gun to add to the ambiance.

In contrast, our set for 'Resurgence' had a lot of planning and preparation. We did set sketches, which included detail sketches of our electric chair, the props, and the locations we were going to be working in.Here are the set sketches,Then after we drew some storyboards on each shot.

And here is a picture of storyboards we drew of each shot we took in our thriller of 'Resurgence'. These storyboards included a detailed description of the type of shot and a sketch to give a rough idea of what actions would be taking place. 

We also wrote a shooting script  and a script which requiered alot of drafts and a lot of editing until it was perfect. Also part of the planning process was writing down a list of props we needed to buy/build/use. Writing down all the appropraite shots we used was also very important, we wanted to get a variety and selection of shots in order to increase the standard of the video, contrasting to our Preliminary task.

And here is a picture of our actual set for our thriller, 'Resurgence'. We had to build the set, which included the walls, and provide the props which included the electric chair, table, spogne, bucket etc.

Also another aspect was working behind the scene, we used alot more specialist equipment in our thriller than our preliminary task. This included far more sophisticated work than in our preliminary task.

Another aspect which i feel i have progressed in, is the variety of shots i have used in our thriller. In our Premilimary task, we only used basic shots, we used a wide shot, over the shoulder and close up.

But with the skills and knowledge we have developed we were able to use a more advanced use of shots in our Thriller. For example a tracking shot, extreme close up and establishing shot.

This included using a various use of shots, which included a tracking shot. Where we had to use portable tracks and a spiderdolly to accomplish this.

Also in contrast to my peliminary task i have learnt and developed various skills which have helped my achieve a better standard and quality of my opening sequence of 'Resurgence'. Obvious skills and rules such as the 180 degree rule i have learnt and now understand in full detail. In my peliminary task i wasnt aware of the factors affecting this and also the consequences. Now by understanding what to do, we understood how to be aware of the 180 rule and how not to make mistakes that we made previously. I felt that we didnt cross the 180 degree rule so we were succesful in this area.

Here is a picture of a diagram potraying the 180 degree rule.

Another aspect which we learnt and used in our Thriller was after effects. In our preliminary task, we wernt aware of after effects and simple kept our footage the way it was. But in our thriller, we were able to achieve a sepia tint after effect by using Adobe after effects in order to create an appropriate atosphere for the time period we set it in, 1940s america. It was only the shadows of the lights and objects that created an effect on our preliminary task.

Here is a picture of our footage in the preliminary task and contrasting a screengrab of our thriller.

Our preliminary task screengrab.

And here is a picture of our after effects on our thriller 'Resurgence'.

From our preliminary task, our use of sound has developed alot from our basic preliminary recording we only really used a recording of dialogue which was from the set script. That was the only sound we used. In contrast in our Thriller we did a recording of sound from a microphone. In our thriller we have learnt how to import sounds from Soundtrack pro, this is all linked in with the editing process. Soundtrack enables you to choose a wide variety of sound effects, songs and a choice of music, which you u can choose, appropriately to your film.

 For the preliminary task we didn't use sound effects due to only using the dialogue we had recorded. For my preliminary task all the sound was diegetic, due to the audience being able to hear these sounds. And for my thriller 'Resurgence' we have used a variety of sound clips. Firstly the sound of a radio tuning, as these is a radio broadcast set in the 1930's playing at the beginning so this sound effect will firstly inform the audience what time period this thriller is set in and what is going on.
In 'Resurgence' we used non-diegetic sound, as the actors cant hear these noises and these noises are used to enhance the ambiance and overall atmosphere for our opening sequence. These noises are effects on the title sequences, such as electrocution noises, electricity pulse, and the radio broadcast on top of the sequence. 


Another aspect i can compare is the use of titles and graphics.

In our preliminary task we didn't use any titles or graphics which made it very basic, plain and less visually interesting. Although in our thriller 'Resurgence' we used title cards for introducing the producer, distributor, director, actors and the title of our sequence- 'Resurgence'. The way we portrayed these was through the use of final cut pro. We decided the credits would have a ‘typewriting’ font and would fade in and out on the left hand side of a blank black screen. The idea of using a blank black screen is used to heighten tension as they audience can only hear the sound of electricity and not see anything apart from the credits.

We have decided to use the same font styles throughout the sequence as if we used a variety of cartoony graphics our opening sequence will begin to look amateur.


Above is a screen grab of the font and style we used in our title credits. 

For our main title card which shows the name of our thriller, we created a particular title effect. In order to create this we used after effects using a layering system to create a glowing effect. We then seperated the letters so that we could move them to different sizers and invert them to give the title a sense of abnormality. I then placed a lighting effect underneath the text to give it an electrical feel.
To the left is a screen grab of our main title card portraying the after effect we used.

In contrast here is a picture of my preliminary task where as mentioned above we didn't use any title cards, just an establishing shot. Here demonstrates a photo of it.

Task 6- what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Task 5- how did you attract/adress your audience?

How did you attract/adress your audience?

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Task 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

The specific social groups we have chosen to analyse which we believe will fit into our genre of film are people who are interested in history of the elctric chair and the death penalty then. So for example well educated people, but young. An example of a social group w hich fits into this categorary is the social group of history geeks, these people are a group of people interested in specific historical events.

These pictures display young, educated history 'geeks'.

Another social group which coudl be interested in this thriller, would be people who have watched films such 'Silence of the lambs'

In media today, social groups are very important, and directors need to target the correct audience for there film, but films need to target a wide range of audiences, as they need to get enough people to come watch there films so they make enough sales and raise profit.

Silence of the lambs have approached a wide audience, specifically  between the ages of 16 to late 30's. Focusing on men, as this film would appeal to men more , although approach women as well, but a wider audience to men.

Here is the trailer, the trailer gives an impression to the target audience we are wanting to approach.




Another film which we got an idea from was the film, 'Green mile'.
The green mile focuses on an electroction in america and uses an electric chair. Focusing on there electric chair, we were able to get similar designs and possibly hope to attract similar audiences who were interested in that genre of film.

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

The media institution we have decided to use to distribute our media product is Vertigo.

•Vertigo Films is a UK Media company founded in 2002 to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema.

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•Some of vertigos strategies to market there films are firstly they have built up strong relationships with brand partners such as TDK, Red Bull and Diesel ensuring that the cross promotional and marketing opportunities are maximized on the Films releases.

•Also Vertigo has worked very closely with record companies such as EMI (Positive), Warmers and Universal on the release of their Films. The successes of the Films have drawn artists such as Mike Skinner (The Streets), Primal Scream and Orbital to work with the company.

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Particular films that have been distributed and produced by Vertigo have been films like 'The Business',  'The firm','Street Dance 3d'.

Other marketing materials Vertigo have used not just for this film but others they have produced is posters and trailers. Using trailers give a slice of the film to the audience, usually the best bits and this can attract the audience and encourage them to go watch it in the cinema. Also posters can be displayed all over the country on billboards, vehicles and in newspapers to catch the viewers eye and possibly any famous actors in it, therefore if the public like those famous actors that will also contribute to there decision of whether to go see it or not.

Task 2- How does your product represent particular social groups?

In our opening sequence there are five characters present therefore we only have  four different social groups to look at.
Firstly our main character Randell Merett is potrayed as a teenager who is rather mentally messed up, firstly due to commiting so many murderes and the fact he targeted young girls. He is shown through the sequence to be unclean, due to his messy, greasy haircut, and also the conidtion his clothes are in. so the social group here would be a mental criminal.
Here is a photo of Randell, we can see by his facial expression that he isnt a normal guy and this photo shows hes remourse and that he has no reactions or expressions. Randell looks evil in this shot and this is visibbly shown in this photo.
Also in this shot, it is obvious that he is significant throughou this sequence and especially in this shot.

There are two police guards, throughout the sequence they are potrayed as high statuses due to the way they are postured and stood. The police are represented in society as intentive and authoritive. The uniform represents authority and we tend to believe they are doing the right thing, and in this case, it is that Randell is being executed for the right reasons. The opening sequence is looking like the police are doing righteous thing to do. In this photo they are strapping in the murderer before he gets electrocuted.

Our Governor is the character who reads out the reasons why Randell Merett is going to be electrocuted. His accusations are read out and the consequences. The Governor is represented as a smart, high authority man  who has a lot of power too. The Governor is also from a middle class background who has been brough up well. This is also reinforced when he speaks, as his diction is clear as well as his accent.

The priest is as well respected man, who represents the voice of god. He potrays that this electroction is a righteous thing, and that Randell Merett is being murdered under the eyes of god and not just the state. The priest is respectable and the governor possibkt disebt see this.
By the priests facial expressions in this shot, we can tell he is a respectable man with alot of power and very authorituve legally and religiously.

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

Our production 'Resurgence' uphold both conventions of film sequences and it also challenges Audience expectations. We have portrayed this by following various rules and expectations of a thriller. Firstly with the credits at the beginning as expected, the distributor we used was 'Vertigo' and it was a 'Blue print Production'. The Distributor is the most important as they are the people with the money. then after this would be the producer credits, the reaons of this is because these producers have taken money and portioined it out within the film.
the next credit is  'the director or a film of', this is as these people have got the money and have decided what to spend it on.
after these important credits, the  next ones would be the names of the actors, from most important to least important in different font styles and sizes too.

The reasons why we do this, is becuase we follow what the audiences expect of credits and graphics.
Due to 'Resurgence' being a thriller in order to convey this and that we used electricution we have used lighting strikes and sound effects to convey this, this is portrayed at the end.
Also by having the radio broadcast over the top of the credits, set the time of our opening sequence, the events that have occured and how they will visually be shown.

we need to convey the audience expectations in order to understand what is going on. if they do not understand whats happening, they loose interest but if it is very fomalic the audience will loose interest as there is nothing to see. The use of titles in a film sequence is a convention we have upheld to ensure our audience is aware of the various production credits and technical aspects which the audience expect.

Here are various screen grabs we have taken of our finished project-

Here is the title card of our distributor, 'Vertigo Films'. We have chosen a typewriting font and have given Vertigo Films a larger font size as it is more important that 'presents'.

The production company we have used, is 'A Blue Print' production, we came up with this name ourselves and have carried on using the same font, style and size for all the title cards.

Here is a screengrab of the governor mid shot, here you can visually see that we have used after effects on top of our footage, before it was a very bright orange brick colour and to fit in with the 1930s theme we have used a very pale, pasty dark effect. In this shot you can also see the governors costume appropraite to the era of the 1930s.

Here is a screengrab of the opening scene, this is a midshot of Randell Merett more commonly known as the 'El paso strangler'. Here he is being tied up by the two officers and they are preparing him for his electrocution. This shot potrays the establishing shot, the props which include the table, bucket, electric chair and cloth used to cover his face. Also there costumes are shown, and once again appropraite to the 1930s style of  clothing.

Here is another screengrab, of an extreme close up of the bucket. We have used this shot in our sequence due to it adding effect to our sequence, adding a variety of shots but also this shot includes one police officer draining the bucket in preparation for the electrocution. Here we can visually see the water droplets and the old fashioned metal bucket.

Here is one of my favourite screengrabs. A close up of Randell Merrett, his eyes looking menancing and scary to the audience watching. His face has created shadows due to the lighting and the after effect we have used, it has washed out all the bright colours and focused on his features, especially his eyes.

This Mid shot screengrab is of one of our officers, he is placed against the brick wall and is visually shown to be captured in his appropriate 1930's police officers outfit.


All these screengrabs visually show seven framed of our finished production, these illustrate our engagment with existing forms and conventions and anaylse how they demonstrate the use, development and challenging of these.