Thriller Evaluation | Question 7 | Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from the progression of it to the final product?

Thriller Evaluation | Question 5 | How did you attract/address your audience?

Thriller Evaluation | Question 5 | How did you attract/address your audience? from reecethompsoncns

Thriller Evaluation | Question 4 | Who would be the audience for your media product?

How would the age of the characters attract a certain audience?

The age of our characters is interesting as they are 30-40 year old characters portrayed by younger actors. By doing this we attract a broader range of viewers. The media product is probably more suited towards young adults because of the age of the actors within the film.

Once Upon a Time in America is a film that would share a similar audience by using both young actors and slightly older actors. The film covers the age transition of the main characters and the feel of the film is similar to our media product. The characters of our media product although portrayed by young actors represent a young adult gangster, similar to Once Upon a Time in America.

The audience of the film would have to relate to the age of the characters to understand their problems within the thriller film. This would suggest that young adults would prefer this film as it covers issues usually associated with younger people rather than older people. The film may not appeal to younger audiences such as teenagers as many of the themes of the film probably do not concern teenagers. I would suggest the age demographic we our aiming for is 20-40 years old people because of the themes and character ages within the media product.


How would gender attract a certain audience?

Eve - Female character from our media product 'The Crawford Case'

Within our media product the gender of our characters and the stereotypes surrounding them would attract a specific audience. Our female character Eve, shares many similarities with Marion Crane from 'Psycho' and Veda from 'Mildred Pierce'. These characters all share one similarity of being independent during a time when women's independence was still being fought for. Due to this, I would say the media product is aimed at women more than men due to the female character's quest for independence.

Marion Crane from 'Psycho'

 However, I feel the film could also appeal to males as the male characters represent the traditional 'gangster' type of character that many males consider 'masculine' and 'manly'. Due to this, male audiences may feel inclined to watch the film and be inspired by the role reversal of the woman being the dominant role in the film. Overall though, I feel the film would appeal to women more due to the main characters behaviour and search for being independent.




How would ethnicity attract a certain audience?

All of the films main characters are British and White. Due to this being the case, the film would most likely attract a white British audience. The film would probably a bigger success within the UK then a release in US because of the 'British' tendencies of the characters. Other ethnicities would find it harder to identify with the main characters due to their portrayal of their problems. For example, many black characters in films tend to be dealing with racism within their life. However, in our film, the theme of ethnicity and racism is absent and so would be harder for a black audience member relate to the film.

An example of ethnicities being represented in thriller films comes from the recent news that Idris Elba has been considered for the new James Bond films. When this was announced, it was met with some criticism, such as criticism from Rush Limbaugh who said that he 'could not stand the idea of a black James Bond'. This shows the stereotypes associated with black characters within thriller films and how some people see them as not being able to portray the protagonist of the film.


How would the audience identify with the characters within the media product?

The audience of our media product would identify themselves with our characters through the aforementioned age, gender and ethnicity, but also from a range of other factors such as costume, class and lifestyle of the characters. These factors would contribute to how the audience react to the film and how involved they feel with it. A white, middle class, female, who looks for independence in their life would identify with the film the most. However, this is too refined to target this certain audience so some things, such as the male characters roles, have been done to broaden the audience and wider the extent to which the audience identifies with the characters. For example, many women who feel entrapped by a patriarchal society would see this film as representing the silent women who fights for her safety and independence. On the other end of the spectrum, a male watching this film could identify with the 'gangster' male characters as they would see them as living out 'the fantasy' of being a criminal. Despite many people not wanting to be a criminal, the idea of it appeals to some due to the luxury lifestyle and rewards that come with it. The costume used for the female character of Eve embodies her sexuality and promiscuousness further attracting a male audience who would see her as 'eye candy'.

What other media products that relate to yours would your audience also like?

A media product such as 'Psycho' would be perfect for the audience we are aiming ours at due to the characters involved within the film. For example, Marion Crane is similar to the character of Eve, so the audience who identify with Eve would also identify with Marion Crane due to their likenesses. In a similar fashion, the male audience would prefer a film such as 'Once Upon a Time in America' due to the idea of the gangsters living the 'fantasy' lifestyle of luxuries.

Thriller Evaluation | Question 6 | What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Thriller Evaluation | Question 3 | What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Thriller Evaluation | Question 3 from reecethompsoncns

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

Thriller | Final Cut

Thriller Evaluation | Question 2 | How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Relationships between victim and offender

The media product represents particular social groups through it's use of characters. The murderer in the opening of the thriller is a female who knew the male character she killed. The graph below shows the relationships between violent criminals and their victims.



 Stranger - Red
Acquaintance - Green
Mugging - Yellow
Domestic - Blue



The statistics show that most violent criminals are close to their victims, which is represented in our thriller opening as the male character is killed by who we presume is his wife. The film is representing the female population as independent and free of will, showing a sign of change within society. This idea subverses the stereotypical role of women, going as far to challenge the patriarchal society of the time the film is set in.

Ethnicity

The media product represents a singular ethnicity of white British. The media product could be seen as very biased towards white British, due to the fact there is a lack of diverse ethnicities. However, there was a limitation to how many ethnicities we could use, as the school we go to is predominately white British. The media product does conform to the stereotypical 'British gangster' by the use of it's male characters. The male characters represent this idea by having a shady side to them. It is implied they have been involved in a dodgy dealing that has gone wrong.

The graph above shows the statistics of drug use and ethnicities.Our media product represents this graph through it's use of white characters, who are one of the biggest consumers of illegal drugs.

Class

The media product depicts the middle to upper class of society, due to the use of costume. The main characters all have formal attire to show their significance within society. Although the thriller convention usually revolves around the working class, we decided to challenge this stereotype in our media product. Class is an important factor into the character's behaviour and the events that happen during the opening to our thriller. Although ambiguous as to the reasoning of the murder, we can tell there is a struggle between classes, as the man who comes to shoot the other character is presumed to have been paid to do so.

Thrillers such as Once Upon a Time In America represent the idea of the working class and their involvement in a complicated crime. A stereotype that we are challenging is that of the working class always being involved in a violent crime, with our characters from the middle class being heavily involved in the crime.

Gender



The male characters of our media product conform to the generic thriller stereotype that portrays the males as corrupt and possessive. This ultimately leads to their demise; showing their villainous side. The body language of the male characters is authoritative and confident, showing their bloated egos, much similar to those in other thrillers such as Budd from 'Kill Bill', who represents the villainous male archetype generically found in the thriller genre.

The female character of our thriller opening challenges the generic stereotype of a femme fatale, by being involved in the crime and showing her independence. In other ways she does conform to the archetype by being vulnerable and oppressed by her male counterparts, however, her murder of them signifies the breaking of the stereotype and her freedom from their oppression. A character that shares similar traits to our female character is Mildred Pierce from 'Mildred Pierce' who is deviant from the generic archetype of the femme fatale, as she fights for her innocence and independence within the film. Their is also a slight resemblance with Marion Crane from 'Psycho' as she partakes in illegal activities to further herself. This is similar to our female character, Eve, shooting the two male characters to protect herself. 



Target Audience

 

 

Age

 

The film would be aimed at a wider age range; from around 16-50. This is because the main characters are portrayed by younger actors, but the characters are older. The film would also appeal to the older ages as it is black and white, and also uses a 1950s feel to it. The younger demographic would enjoy the film as it mixes elements of a modern thriller into it. Research into the thriller genre also shows that middle-aged people are more likely to watch thriller TV series such as Broadchurch and Spiral. We would target a mixed age range to make sure that it was a commercial success that can be enjoyed by all. The film wouldn't appeal to 65+ as some of the elements of the thriller wouldn't be enjoyed by them.

 

Gender

 

The film would be aimed at both genders as there is a mixture of males and females portraying the characters. If I had to choose though, the film would probably appeal more to women as it depicts the independent women archetype of thrillers (Marion Crane, Thelma and Louise, Jackie Brown). The opening is used by the female character to establish her dominance over the male characters of the film. This would be a key factor into appealing to the female gender.

 

 

Ethnicity and Nationality

 

The film would be aimed at British and Amercian citizens as the speech would be done in English. The opening of the thriller is also set in England, so English residences would identify themselves with the locations the film is shot in. The ethnicity who it would appeal to most would be white British as the main characters are all white. However, the film would still appeal to other ethnicities such as hispanic, afro-carribean and black. An example of a thriller that would appeal to these ethnicites more would be Pulp Fiction as some of the characters are of these ethnicites so the audience could identify with them.

 

 

Social Class

 

The thriller opening would appeal to those of middle class as it depicts quite wealthy characters who flaunt their luxuries (see the car used in the opening). The costumes of the characters could also be identified with by middle class people as the characters wear suits, similar to business men and women who are most likely to be middle class. The film would share similarites with Resevoir Dogs for who it appeals to social class wise.

 

 

Sexuality

 

The film would most likely appeal to heterosexual people as the opening depicts a heterosexual relationship that has broken down; leading to the male characters death. The rest of the film wouldn't explore sexuality as a theme so it is hard to relate to another film and identify the target audience for this category.



 



Thriller Planning | Soundtrack

Soundtrack

Some soundtrack ideas for our media thriller include:

Dean Martin - Ain't That A Kick In The Head

Peggy Lee - Why don't you do it right?

Peggy Lee - Fever

I Don't Want To Set The World on Fire

These soundtracks use a slower tempo and less suspenseful tone than many generic thriller soundtracks. We are using this to make the thriller have more of a comical twist to it. The soundtrack ideas we have all fit the 1950s time period we are setting it in. This is to maintain the authenticity of the thriller itself. During the editing, the soundtrack is subject to change depending on how it fits with the footage.

Thriller Planning | Costumes

Costume Ideas

The costume for our thriller will need to be of the period (1950s). To achieve this the female character will need to wear a 'tea dress' to give the impression to the viewer that the film is shot in a 1950s time period. The dress uses floral patterns, something that was very popular at the time.

The costumes for the male characters will simply be suits. The use of a suit is very generic of the thriller genre, and a majority of noir thrillers had the male characters wearing formal attire (suits, waistcoats) Another inspiration for the use of suits is Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs,  in which the main characters wear suits, and are identified by their tie colour.

Thriller Planning | Location + Shot Ideas

Opening Shot Idea, Location of shoot

Shot idea for when car arrives, headlights/blinds

Silhouette shot idea, plant would not be there when filmed 

Shot Idea, Medium shot from the opposite perspective of character (other end of the table)

Over the shoulder shot idea, femme fatale and main character

Psycho Case Study

Inbetweeners Case Study