Media Coursework Evaluation.



‘Rouge’ (pronounced /ruːʒ/; French: Red)



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

Our Movie ‘Rougé’ is a psychological thriller which includes aspects of supernatural and horror movies. In order to create an effective opening sequence, we had to include substantial enigmas which portrayed a 'typical thriller’; we knew that there had to be mystery and a number of unanswered questions which would induce anticipation in the viewer.

Instead of delving straight into a action packed scene, we Opted to start off with our main character opening with a small narrative about herself as she is now retained in a mental institute undergoing psychoanalysis, In this scene we have her talking directly to the camera, Thus allowing our audience to know a little about our main character, she is seen up against a sheer white background connoting her vulnerability and her feeling of being bare and emotionally drained.. This would later evolve into the actual events that would directly affect her, as we then progress into a flashback. Unlike traditional thriller movies, we challenged the normal narrative sequence and decided to have our film running in non-chronological order (non-linear/disrupted narrative), starting with the ending of the movie first and then merging into the starting point. We have very much reversed the conventional thriller opening to make it more twisted. Our opening sequence starts with underlying intensity which gradually builds up and leaves the audience wanting more, As we see the our protagonist outwit the antagonist.

Our use of camera work in our production pursued that of typical thriller conventions. We filmed in Camden town, with our establishing shot capturing the edgy, urban, fast paced urban lifestyle. We used a drum and bass style music to accompany and compliment our shots.




2) How does your media project present particular social groups?

The two main actors which we chose to cast in our production were actors which we thought related to our fictional characters in order to maintain the feel of authenticity.

We have portrayed our main female character as Our Lead Female Character 'Amelié' is a sexy French psychotic seductress in her early 20s, who is mentally disturbed, this to some extent can be projected as psycho-cynicism. She could be seen as an amalgamation of such older films as (Carrie 1976 and Cruel Intentions 1999). The use of our atypical character challenges the 'norm', and gives the audience something new and exciting to work with. We kept her in very feminine clothes, enhancing her sex-appeal and had her wear a red trench coat, which come in conjunction with the movie title, signify things such as – sex, danger, blood and love.

Our lead male character is a typical representation of what we refer to in the UK as “Lad” culture, a young socially suppressed man whose forms of a good time consist of drinking-beer, crude language and “chatting up” any girl that happens to walk by ‘Tommy Johnson’ The Football Factory (2004), We can see this as Amelie is walking by, he attempts to chat her up but she resists, thus resulting in a bruised ego for him and his anger building up.

As our project is very much urban and consists of young actors in a well known place in London, I believe that it would appeal to many of the different social groups that we have.




3) What kind of media distribution might distribute your product and why?

As our thriller film is very much ‘British’, and features urban city life in London through the eyes of young people, as this may appeal less to the general public as our target audience only make up a small fraction of the UK population, I believe that it would be able to reach more of our target audience by distributing it through a television channel such as channel 4. Channel 4 is renowned for Edgy, Gritty, and Urban documentaries and films, Similar to skins, Misfits and the American thriller series ‘True Blood’. Through our initial channel 4 distribution, if it becomes a favour and highly sought after, we could then think about asking for external funding through one of the major companies.

Although our product is obviously small/low-budget to be invested in by major Hollywood companies, we could be partially funded by the UK film council and use personal investments.



4) Who would be the audience for your media project?

As a group we decided that our target audience would be both males and females between the ages of 15 – 25, although we are not fully excluding those who are of an older age, we felt as though it would be more enjoyed by those who are younger as they would be able to relate to it in some way, whether it be through location or the characters. Females might however find the movie more interesting than males, as it obviously follows a woman who is anything but your average, controlling this man, which would give women a sense of escape from the stereotypical feeble role which they are usually portrayed as.

We gave the more a certificate (15) as through our research we found that it was this group of young people who would find fast-paced, psychologically challenging movies more appealing and as there is moderate blood and gore, slight hints of sexual reference, and slight strong language.


5) How did you attract/address your particular audience?

In order to attract our audience, we used very subtle ways in which we could help our target audience’s identification with our characters, Through our characters roles e.g. Amelie as a well to do good looking young lady getting harassed in the street by a rowdy young male, is somewhat seen as a regular occurrence in the western world, especially here in the UK, many females may have found themselves in this predicament on several occasions. The young man as a cocky, over-confident, stereotypical male.

Using the information gathered through our various interviews and questionnaires, we were better able to understand what people did and did not like. By using a familiar filming ground and characters which our target audience would be relate to, we were able to make a connection with our viewers. If we were to advertise and promote our product, we would use different medias to attract our audience. Social networks such as facebook, twitter and MySpace would be our first option as these are very popular amongst the audience which we are trying to reach.



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

After having been assigned our different roles within the group ( Producer, director, editor and camera person ), We attempted our preliminary task, this is where we all first learnt about the different types of technologies used within the media environment, things such as our Cannon XM2, premier-pro/final cut-pro and sound loading on the apple-Macs.

At first using our camera turned out to be quite a struggle as the weather conditions were not the best, heavy rain and sleet made it difficult for us to capture the shots that we needed to complete our project, but through adjusting the camera setting and understanding which lighting was best to use, we overcame that hurdle. Although we were unable to use professional lighting such as ‘red-heads’ as we were filming in such a awkward place, our location turned out to be very well lit considering we shot during the evening times, the contrast of dark and light helped us to maintain a sinister feel.

Mastering the editing software posed more of a challenge for me as I was not familiar with it, but as the weeks progressed I was able to familiarise myself with it, learning how to smoothly transition and dissolve different clips along with learning how to accompany a background track with the shots.



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

After looking back on what we had initial done when constructing our preliminary task, I feel that we progressed well from having our ideas at an early stage and learning how to develop them into our final product. Although it proved to be challenging at first, with a group of new people whom all had their own opinions and ideas, through compromise and teamwork, we were able to communicate properly and organise what we had to do.

Looking back on our preliminary task, I feel I have come a long way in regards to being able to differentiate between all the types of shots, how and when to use alternative camera angles, how to edit properly, adding sound and using mis-en-scene help contribute to making a typical thriller with all the needed conventions. Post production planning also helped us to understand how much work it takes to make a production and how to distribute our time efficiently. To fully conclude, I have much more experience in both the practical and other side of making a high standard production.



By Janay Hirani

Evaluation - Muna Alawi

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

The genre that our film was based around was super-natural thrillers. Films such as X-men include characters with paranormal powers so our group did research on specific characters that have telepathic abilities such as Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men who has formidable psychic powers and is probably the foremost telepath in comics. As our main character played a female lead role another significant character that we can relate to is Jean Grey-Summers from X-men, who possesses telepathic and telekinetic powers. Our main female character is surrounded by mystery and suspense. There is a factor of seduction as her outfit may suggest, she wears a red trench coat which could represent danger as well as seduction. The typical forms and conventions that a thriller contains were mildly manipulated but followed throughout to appeal to the audience.Considering the mise-en-scene which is classically based around dark/night time, contains a setting of a house with domestic items as significant features to enhance the scene. Our media product is set during the night time but instead of being set in an interior location our film is set in a gritty and urban city with an eerie sense.

Furthermore, the setting re-enforces the narrative. During the opening sequence there are important establishing shots of Camden Town to show the area and give the audience awareness of the setting. Bearing in mind that the camerawork was extremely important in maintaining a professional looking title sequence our opening consisted of multiple shots. Close-up shots were particularly important; there is close-up shot of Amelie which conveys her emotions to the audience. The editing is very sharp and reveals a glimpse of the main storyline. Looking at other opening sequences which were simple but effective such as ‘Se7en’ (1995) we wanted to develop our sequence using those forms and conventions.
The editing and sound was vital so we decided to use an upbeat and fast track to create tension in the atmosphere. The opening will consist of voice-overs and mainly non-diagetic sound, similar films are Trainspotting (1996). The main character will give an indication of what is about to occur as the story unravels. Some films which begin with the ending such as Citizen Kane, Lolita, The Outsiders, Fight Club and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are very effective as they usually start with the death of the main character or one of the key characters and the audience gets a preview of what is to come.
A thriller film normally contains several storylines following a range of characters that are usually linked in a particular way. For example ‘Pulp Fiction’ directed by Quentin Tarantino has many storylines happening all at once. Our film will consist of one main narrative revealing the plot of the main character. The conventions of a thriller normally contain a mix of ordinary and extra-ordinary plot twists, which include irony, endings and intelligent storylines. There is usually some action and drama in thrillers to add more impact to the film. Our product is fast paced and possesses action between the protagonist and the antagonist. Overall the typical forms and conventions have highly influenced our product and I think that we have devised a piece that fits in with the forms and conventions of a current thriller film.



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

There is a male and a female actor used in our production and there is a contrast between the two genders. The female is very sophisticated and portrays a wealthy and classy woman living in the city. The male actor is keen to get the girl and typically tries to get her attention but
she is evidently impassive and ignores him. They are both young and both represent the urban city life through a young adult’s life. The twist is that she can hear his thought and uses her ability to manipulate him. He is loud and provoking as he shouts insults down the phone which makes him first appear to be intimidating but he becomes inferior as the roles change. The woman becomes dominant and we see that she has committed a crime as she washes away the blood.There is an uncanny smile that creeps upon her face which shows that she is delusional and she uses her powers for her advantage. She uses the power of her own beauty to her advantage. She manipulates men and controls them to do what she wants them to do. She’s
sly, conniving and dark and gets away with what she does as women are not seen as powerful in today’s stereotypical society Women are not normally seen as the distinctive killers but our film contradicts these stereotypical views. We tried to represent the british audience and the urban city life which Camden rightly illustrates the rural atmosphere.

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

Our storyline is not a typical happy-go-lucky film which ends with a ‘happily-ever-after’ such as the films that have been distributed by the major Hollywood studios. Taking into account that our thriller can be considered as a British film; certain distributions that support this like an independent or an arthouse film company production. This may have less appeal upon the general target audience as it may be limited when it has its theatrical release. It could reach our target audience at a higher rate if it was shown on television on Channel 4 which features the London and urban city life in their Film and documentaries. It is similar to programmes such as Skins as it features the grimy city life with young adults experiencing certain realistic situations. Or another show called Misfits follows five teenagers on community service who get struck by lightning and are given special powers. One of the character is called Kelly played by Lauren Socha becomes telepathic which is the same power that our character possesses. Misfits has received very positive feedback following its first episode. The Times gave it four out of five stars, calling it "a new union — salty British street humor with whizz-bang special effects" which should "keep E4's core audience happy". Its production company is Clerkenwell Films is a British television production company, which has produced several drama programs for the ITV network in the United Kingdom and I think this is ideal for our media product.

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

Our production is constructed for a target audience of 15-19 year olds, but it could also approach a larger audience mainly males. After conducting our research our featured target audience wanted a fast moving plot without revealing as little as possible. The research showed that the audience appealed to films which related to them, so the actors used and the location was specifically chosen to relate to the target audience. The audience was based around what they thought were the important forms and conventions to include in a thriller film. The actors are apart of the age-group so it was preferable. The female character is well spoken and she doesn't represent the typical modern young adults when it comes to characterisation, she is more classy and sophisticated and this could appeal to older women as the Amelie is seductive but with a thrilling twist. We wanted it to appeal as much and to also relate so it would be significant to feature the same age-group. The film involves strong language and bloody scenes which some people may find disturbing. The film is likely to attract a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rating of '15', and this reaches our main target audience. The film is viewable by all of our intended audience but could reach out to more due to the violent nature.

5. How did you attract/address your particular audience?

We conducted several interviews and questionnaires during the research process to find out what our target audience liked and disliked. We directly asked them face to face and if not we reached out to them though instant messengers or different social networks where we were able to receive the information back swiftly. We would attract our audience by advertising our the product through different medias.The audience is able to relate to the main character Amelie as she walks through the town in the beginning and the use of POV makes it seem as if the audience have taken her place.The male is shady and is completely drawn to Amelie so his main priority is to get her attention, the audience sees this as a realistic situation and can identify with the characters. The interaction between Amelie and the mysterious man as she walks past him and down the stairs, we used an over the shoulder shot to show the man glaring and the woman and this gives the audience the feeling of being watched and creates an atmosphere.

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

As we have been assigned different roles in our groupconsisting of director, producer, editor and cameraman, each position has been highly regarded and everybody has a significant part to play. it was the first time I ever attempted a preliminary task and after practicing with the camera and the tripod I became familiar with these items. We have all had a go at using the different technologies to become familiar with them. I have become familiar with the video camera and how to use it and as a director I needed to recognizable each feature to maintain a profession title sequence. Other pieces of technology are the use Apple Macs, Premier Pro, and Sound-uploading. The camera that we used was a Cannon XM2, we did come across a few probless especially when it came to filming outdoor in the different locations and because weather was an issue. It was shot during the night so we needed to consider the lighting and the white balance so it looked as professional as possible. the main functions that we needed to concentrate on was the auto focus and the fact that the camera can focus its attention on moving objects such as cars going past. In our opening scene we filmed outside Camden Town train station and there were several cars going past so we worked on blurring the image and focusing on a particular point usuing the manual focus.


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

I feel that after conducting a lot of relevant research we have developed a well constructed media product. I have learnt how to produce a product that can appeal and relate to the target audience by progressively understanding there preferences. From the beginning our ideas have developed into a full product that can appeal to a particular audience as well as reach out to a wide range of audiences as there is no gender specification. It was challenging as we delegated a lot but this was beneficial as we were able to compromise as a group and come to a reasonable e decision which brought all four ideas together. Communication and organisation skills were very important throughout so we have to maintain these skills. I learnt how to use Premier Pro to a higher standard, how camera angles can tell a story and to develop the plot, how to use mise-en-scene, sound and editing to a higher standard and keeping it within the forms and conventions of a typical thriller film.
I have learnt how to use shortcuts on the keyboard to save time when using Final Cut Pro. I have also learnt to use different shots such as high angel, low angle and over the shoulder shot to make the opening sequence as effective as the other well known thriller films. i think our film does compare to opening sequences such as the movie 'Se7en' as we worked together to produce a product that looks professional and consists of forms and conventions that a thriller film involves. To conclude I beleive that I have gained the experience needed to work with film camera's and computer editing software to produce a product of high standard.

G321 - Evaluation - Julio Rebello

G321 - Evaluation

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

Our sequence develops forms and conventions of real media products by following narrative formats of conventional thrillers. An example of how this was achieved was by the fight between justice and injustice, whereby the protagonist is up against the antagonist. We however challenged the typical convention of characters restricting themselves to only human powers and instead giving our protagonist supernatural telepathic powers. We also developed our presentation to follow thriller conventions by using fast paced and frequent action.

The use of typical and atypical characters in our sequence also helped to develop the forms and conventions of real media products by having a protagonist at the mercy of an antagonist. This helped to drive the plot, making the story more interesting as the protagonist had a way to outsmart the antagonist, without him realising.

Our use of camera work followed codes of thriller conventions. This was done by starting with an establishing shot to help set the tone of location of Camden Town, a place with a reputation full of drug culture, night life and serial killings like the Camden ripper. The image of the fast moving, urban life of Camden Town was connotated by the fast cuts between the antagonist and protagonist and also by the fast paced drum and bass soundtrack.


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

In our thriller, the representation of men is very somewhat stereotypical to the Ladism culture of the young, working class man. Our lead male character is someone who likes to drink at the pub and uses cheesy chat up lines on women. This is shown in our sequence, when he is having an argument over his phone outside a bar then when trying to gain the attention on the lead female character (Ameile) when walking passed him. His anger builds up as he does no gain her attention and looses his macho image.

With our lead female character, we tried to go against the stereotypes of women they as are traditionally portrayed as the weaker sex. This allowed us to have more control on how we could create twists to the thriller, for example, by creating female murderer we created a character with unpredictability. However, we still made her to keep in touch with her feminine traits. As we see in the beginning and the end of the sequence, she is a character who is emotionally driven and who is deeply in touch with her feelings. We have also portrayed her as a middle class female who likes to keep herself looking pretty, for example, the use of the seductive red trench coat. Red is a colour that signifies many things, for example, romance and danger.

We tried to represent real Londoners in real London by showing the not showing the stereotypical “merry London”, which overseas audience are often shown, as after all, this is a film that is targeted at a British audience. The fast cuts and drum and bass music helps to connotate the very fast life that many Londoners live. Also, Camden Town is very fast moving and vibrant place at night, with a gritty and urban scene, something that many Londoners are used to. Therefore, it is more so that our choice of location represents a regional identity, rather than just the characters.

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

Our thriller seems most likely to be distributed by a TV company as all the five major distribution companies, which are American owned, will prioritise Hollywood films over others. Almost nine out of tens films are viewed because of these 5 major distributors (United International pictures, Warner Brothers, Buena Vista, Twentieth Centry Fox and Sony). It will be easier to gain distribution from a British television channel as it can be screened to everyone in the nation and a UK distribution company will be interested in film with a British storyline, as their audience will be able to feel that they can relate to it. Half of the films screened in British cinemas are only shown to half of the country.

Funding will be used partially from personal investments and the UK film council as it is too small to be invested by a major Hollywood company and will need some sort of external funding for support. Support could also come from Working Title, who are a UK based production company that were behind UK hits such as Ali G In Da House, Bridget Jones’ Diary and Love Actually, which all have unique storylines, like our film. They are known for funding many of the UK’s best films. Success in the US and overseas may have been difficult as these types of films are films that only we, the British, can really relate to. Perhaps a storyline more suitable to a wide range of audience could help us get better funding, marketing and distribution to an International audience. However, as our film’s unique selling point is something mostly a British audience will relate to, it most sensible to target our film at just them.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

We had decided that our target audience would be females between the ages of 15-30. We are not excluding out males or those who are over 30, but we feel that out thriller will be most enjoyable for those who fit that profile. Our target audience research showed that people found movies more enjoyable if it involved situation they the audience could relate to. Also, it is common for females to be interested in thriller films with emotions (for example, Sixth Sense) rather than males who tend to favour action thrillers (for example, Die Hard). We are hoping to achieve a BBFC (Biritish Boards of Film Classification) classification of fifteen, as we will be able to gain the full target audience of who we intended. Also, there is moderately strong language and bloody scenes used in the film, as well moderate sex reference. Although these are in our film, they may be considered as not explicit enough to qualify for an 18 and not too explicit enough for a 12A. Going for a 12A, could however make our targeted audience (of 15-30 years of age) feel that the film cannot be as gory/intense as it is portrayed, simply if it is targeted at a younger audience, which could therefore give a misinterpretation for our targeted audience.


5) How did you attract/address your particular audience?

Several elements were used to encourage our target audience’s identification with the characters. For example, the social class that the both of the characters held. Whereby the attractive middle class woman has caught the eye of the stereotypical working class male, looking for a one-night stand. The audience is asked to particularly put themselves in the position of Ameile as she is the character that will represent the majority of the audience and as she is the innocent victim, which was helped shown by the use of POV shots and establishing shots around Camden Town as Ameile eventually makes her way pass the man. This helps the audience to see the sleaziness of the man and how some women can feel in similar situations. Women feeling insecure and potentially sexually assaulted by random men on streets is something many would say who live in the Western world.



6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product

Using our camera (Cannon XM2) on our outdoor set was quite challenging at times as at different areas of our outdoor location, the white balance had to be altered to compliment the conditions of the outdoor lighting. Having the wrong setting caused white grains across the screen. Having additional lightings, such as red heads, was not possible to have for our outdoor scenes, as they were all public locations with no place to power the lights. But fortunately, out locations were well lit and so are our shots were still clear despite being shot during the night.

Mastering the editing software techniques for Final Cut Pro took a while at first, but became easier and the weeks went by. At first, it was very difficult to log and capture all our data, as setting up all the configurations had be right and this all was very confusing, especially as it was the very first task we had to do on Final Cut Pro. The more repetitive this came, the more easier it became yet it was still very stressful to use as it very time consuming to do.

Learning keyboard shortcuts helped to save time on repetitive actions that need to be exact, for example, trimming your captured shots so dialogue is cut at the right time when used in the final sequence. Video transitions were used to move from one clip to another in the final sequence. The cross dissolve was used several times for fading up, fading down, smoothly transitioning from one clip to another and to smoothly bring texts in and out. A drum and bass song was used as the soundtrack for a section of our sequence as it adds to the idea of the fast urban life and the fast paced cuts. There was difficulty when fading out the soundtrack at the end of the sequence, but manually opening the audio clip into an editor and clicking on points of the songs to fade down eventually did it.


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

Our preliminary task allowed us to become familiar with the equipment we would use in our thriller sequence, for example, the use of cameras, tripods and editing software. We had to become familiar with such controls on the camera like adjusting the white balance and manual focus. Furthermore, during the editing process, we became more familiar with bad editing techniques, which helped us to avoid during our thriller sequence. These were like cutting in the middle of dialogue and transitioning from one shot to another, which is in the same shot of the same angle.

Detailed planning helped a lot during our production process. The project schedule helped us to keep up to deadlines and delegate individual tasks to each person in our group. The research document helped us to understand thriller movies more in depth and the audience who watch them. This gave us an idea of how to develop our thriller towards our targeted audience.

To conclude, I feel that our end product has successfully met our brief as we have successfully researched into the elements of what defines a thriller film, researched an audience and created an end product that is suited to that audience. However, when comparing our product to a professional product, it does not seem to have the same professional visual impact. The quality of out camera does not seem as of good quality, compared to those of professional ones. Nevertheless, it may not be due to the camera, but to the lack of knowledge of configuring the white balance and focus properly. Similarly, having better knowledge of actually editing techniques could have made our sequence look more professional.