1. Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
When we decided on the narrative for our Torment video we wanted it to be
different and original. When people talk about thriller films people imagine of bloody
scary scenes. So we chose to set our story in the 1920’s telling a story of a woman
being blackmailed by a character.
In most thriller films it’s the woman who is being hurt and less dominant. We
made our one different because it’s the female character that is in power; even if we
left it on a cliff hanger it is obvious that the woman is the one who pulled the trigger.
Propps theory was based on characters; saying that there is always an evil character
which in this case is the mafia and there is always a victim which was the young lady.
Our Torment video was a psychological thriller, where we used the conventions as
well as different principles creating suspense. We did this by having a shot of an
unknown building which made the audience want to know what was going on. Also
we had shots of her going up a dark staircase which once again created suspense. We
used thriller conventions like silence and going to unknown locations so that the
audience would be nervous which is the typical intended effect. We used circular
panoramic shots so that we created a feeling of suspense and mystery but also
confusion. Normally the audience would of expected the young lady to be in danger
even at the end but the lady taking out her gun changed the whole idea of her being
the only victim so it challenges the thriller conventions even thought it had a link at
the beginning.
In our second project once again we wanted to fit in with real media products so
we chose to have a location who didn’t have anyone around so that the two characters
who were there seemed more in need and abandoned, without help if anything goes
wrong. The setting we used a park with trees and bushes around which also had a link
with our strap line at the end of the video which said ‘Is it all a rumour or is the truth
hidden beyond the bushes?’ There is no dialogue and no character seen in the first few
seconds of the video which creates suspense as the music played along with the clip
builds tension. When they are attacked by the mysterious character the audience can
hear yells and screams which is a convention of the genre. Lastly the editing was done
strategically were pauses which added deliberately. The black outs was used to show
the disposition of the two girls in need of help. Through out the main task I tried
fitting in with the media conventions by using the sound and the editing to create
anticipation and a felling sympathy of the girls. We had a bloody scene at the very
end of our main task, which was shown after a black out. This is a typical convention
which a lot of thriller films do, they use cliff hangers leaving the audience wondering.
This production also followed Propps theory that there are victims and evil characters.
Having a mysterious, evil character is a thriller convention which we included in our
production. Also Binary Opposition can be found in our production as we the
mysterious character has black clothing on which has a connotation of danger and
death which is scene in the last scene.

2. We created the feeling of being stalked by including shots for example we had high
angles and shots from behind the characters to show that they were unaware of the
‘mysterious character’ which had the theory of vague in films. We also had a shot
behind the bushes which showed that they were spied on which made the audience
want to know who was watching them making them think of scenarios that can
happen to them. Like in most thrillers and horrors we made sure that only the music
was heard in most of time which created more tension on the audience, when we had
short clips of the surroundings showing that it was an empty area we only had the
music we chose which made it even more thrilling to the audience, making them look
for answers for their questions. Most of the parts were quite which made the audience
expect something wrong to go on. The main prop we used was the red dye which gave
the blood affect in our main task which fits in to all horror films as bloody and
gruesome scenes can be found in them. When recording Rumour we wanted to use as
many different angles as possible, which we did when compared with our first product
Torment.
We didn’t use many shots for our first production so we included many shots in
the second production to show that we developed our skills. Apart form the different
shots we used in the scene when the second character was trying to escape we had the
girls walking to the area they were going to do their plan. We recorded them when
they were walking towards the camera unaware of what was going on, when we
included the shot from behind the bushes. We included this shot so that it matched
with our strap line ‘is it all a rumour or is the truth hidden beyond the bushes?’ we
also included it because they were being watched at the shot behind the bushes was a
good shot to show this.
The red food dye we used worked really well as it looked realistic when we used
it on the characters clothing and the floor. We used it to give it an effect and also to
meet the conventions of thriller films. Bloody scenes are used so we added it in our
production to meet the principles of a thriller film.
When we were recording we wanted it to be in day light so we went to the park
early. The reason for this was that the girls wanted to scare people coming to the park.
When we had he last shot of them on the floor with blood, I included an effect which
made it darker, to show that it was late and that things didn’t work the way they
wanted it to be.
In my research I looked at the film ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and saw that our
production had similar conventions as we had the similar shots in our ‘Rumour’
production. Our camera angles like the wide angles and the close ups were found in
this film as well and we had a similar storyline when compared with the film. We also
left our media productions on a cliff hanger which is found in most Thriller films once
following the ideas in real thriller products. Both ‘Rumour’ and Torment was left on a
cliff hanger having the same design like really popular Thriller films; ‘The Blair
Witch Project’ and ‘Hills Have Eyes.’ This is a significant point as it is seen in well
known films, making the audience want to know what's going to happen next.

3. The conventions I meet:
• We meet the theory which Propp put forward saying that there is always
an evil character in films. We had the evil character in our Rumour production
which killed the two teenage girls at the end of the short task. This was also
found in our preliminary task were the mafia was tormenting the young lady
once again proving Propps theory correct.
• We also met the conventions which are found in most thriller films, that
there is mostly a mysterious character that caused trouble to the victims. We
also had a mysterious character in our Torment video which was the mafia, as
the audience didn’t expect the lady to be tormented by a mafia and it was an
unexpected shock to them.
• We also met the convention that all bad things happen at night or in the
dark so we recorded our main task when it was quite dark and adjusted the
colour to make it darker on Adobe Premier. I believe this is an important
convention as most thriller films bad things happening at night, for example in
Hills Have Eyes and The Blair Witch Project the mysterious characters came
at night-time.
• In both of the productions I made I included the media convention of
having no dialogue in most of the clip with just the music building up tension
for the audience. There was just music playing in Torment which made the
audience know what is going on, and what the girl is saying which makes it
more interesting to them. In Rumour I met the same convention as there was
music playing as they entered the woods. This is significant as it created
pressure to the audience as there are screams and crimes in the quite music
playing at the background.
• Also we included Binary Opposition in our production as we had a mysterious
character which has a connotation of danger and death which is scene our last
scene. Also having a dark setting is a thriller convention.
• I also had a slow motion effect in my when the mysterious character was
walking. The shot was done as if it was from his eye. This is normally found
in thriller films as it makes it remarkable and dramatic.
Throughout both of my productions I made sure I met some thriller conventions and
tried to prove some theories correct.

4. COMPARING RUMOUR TO BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Here is a close up sHot (rigHt) of
tHe sticks in tHe woods wHicH we
piled up to give an effect of
someone being tHere and playing
witH tHe tHings in tHe woods. it
makes it suspicious and we
wanted to do tHis as a really
famous film wHicH is blair wHicH
project used similar sHots. in tHe
pHoto wHicH is a close up sHot on
tHe rigHt tHere is a sHape witH
sticks Hanging down from tHe
trees. once again it sHows tHat
someone or sometHing was tHere
making it more distrustful for
tHe cHaracters and tHe
audience.

5. in tHe pHoto on tHe left wHicH is a
long sHot is from our video tHere is
tHe female cHaracter walking
towards tHe camera. it once again
makes it doubtful as sHe is not
aware of tHe creature watcHing
Her. i believe it’s a good sHot as sHe
walks towards tHe camera as if
sHe is walking to tHe evil creature
waiting for Her creating a sense of
loss. in tHe pHoto on tHe left wHicH
is a medium sHot from tHe blair
witcH project tHe man is looking at
tHe camera aware tHat He is being
recorded by is friends but does not
know tHat tHey are being followed
by tHe ‘witcH’ in tHe film. it is a
similar sHot and a similar point
wHen comparing tHe two videos.

6. Q2) How does your media product represent particular
Social groups?
In the two tasks we had two completely different characters in, as the Mise en
scene and time periods were different.
In the preliminary task entitled Rumour produced a continuity task called
‘Torment’ where we had a young pretty girl one can guess she belonged from the high
class as she was really classy and a from her clothing and jewellery. We depicted her
as innocent and wealthy but were black mailed by a man. The male character we had
was portrayed as belonging to the Italian mafia. The suit and the hat were used to
reinforce this. Also him smoking a cigarette and his conversation showed how relaxed
and dominant he is, but in the last 10 seconds of the clip the female character
challenges this convention where the reverse roles and take a more dominant and
masculine role.
In the second product we produced which was ‘Rumour’ we had two female
teenager characters, who are shown clearly by the way they talk and by the plan they
had. It represents teenagers as people that look at the funny side of life and that they
don not take in consider the part that of life which is not good, and that there are bad
things which can happen to you. Teenagers today seem careless when looked at the
media and people around us so we wanted to show this in our film.
Lastly the music I chose was not a copyright file which was really scary, it had
silent sections which created more tension which is a thriller conventions. There were
cries and yells in the sound track as well which is similar to the diegetic sounds we
recorded. We are going to use a combination of non diegetic and diegetic sounds
which would crate more tension as the real screams and crying for help would be
more effective on the audience.
The language we chose was more like a street talk as they were talking in
between them. Teenager’s today talk in a different way when compared with the way
they talk at home or in school. We wanted to make this clear in our Rumour
production. Also the costume they had on was appealed to the young audience as;
teenagers wear tracksuits like the two girls in Rumour. The editing I used was black
outs so that I showed the point of views of both the girls and the mysterious character,
I chose this way to show that they were being spied on. Also the colour black has
connotation with death and danger which can link back to the girls being in risk and
dying.
The choice of locations and the trick that the characters play reinforce the
stereotype of careless teenager’s naïve and burning for adventure with very little
maturity we reflected this concept through the props but also through the narrative of
our production.

7. Q3) What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and
why?
I believe that Hammer Film Productions would be one of the best distributors as they
distributed really famous films like Dracula and The Mummy. Hammer Film Productions are
famous for distributing Horror Thrillers and Psychological Thrillers which suits both of our
productions. The statistics show that the films that this company distributed were famous and
that the films they distributed one many awards like the Best Dramatic Presentation.
Torment was Psychological Thriller as the girl was being tormented by a mafia. So for
this reason I believe that it this company would be the best decision to distribute my
preliminary product. One of the main reasons for me to choose this was because that the
films they distributed Psychological Thriller films like Paranoiac and Fear and The Night.
These two films were well known when they were produced and distributed as Hammer Film
Productions made series of what was known as Mini Hitchcock. This is a really significant
thing as Alfred Hitchcock is known as the best director for Thriller Films so I would choose
this company to distribute my first production.
I will also choose the same company for my second production as they distributed
Dracula witch is also well known bringing large incomes to the producers and directors.
There is a vampire in the film who killed young women sucking there blood which can have a
small link with our ‘Rumour’ production as the mysterious character there killed the two
young girls in the story. There is a small link in between the two productions so I would like
to distribute my media productions with this company.
Hammer Film Productions would want to distribute my productions as they have a
similar storyline with the ones they distributed before. I think the unique selling point for my
preliminary production was that there isn't many films set in that particular era. Also that
there is a wide audience which would be a good reason for them to pick my production.
Another reason would be that costumes and the settings we used for Torment was really
realistic as we researched before choosing them. We set out the room to fit with the era, with
barley twist furniture and a gramophone, showing that we thought about before starting our
presentation. We also chose the characters clothing so that it showed their character and
moods as the girl had white dress on which is known as purity and the man had a black suit
on which the colour is connotation of danger and death. The editing I used fitted the era as I
didn’t use many transitions affects apart from fast cut shots. I also used many camera shots
like close ups and wide angles to set the scene and to show the moods of the characters.
Lastly the music I chose creates tension and the films they distributed was really catchy and
the music meant a lot as it kept the audience focused building up nervousness.
They might want to distribute my main product as its storyline is interesting and it has a
wide audience from the ages of 15 to 24. Younger adults like watching films and are the
groups that go to cinemas mostly so it would be a good choice for them. The location was in a
park which links back to teenagers and young adults again showing that it is a film aimed at
them. The clothing of the characters were clothing of typical teenagers, we made sure this was
clear in our productions again showing that we researched before choosing the props, clothing
and setting. The unique selling point for our production which will make the company want to
chose this particular video is that the plot, music and setting works together creating tension
and excitement which is wanted by the young audience.

8. In both of our productions we followed the thriller conventions like silence and black
outs which would be an important point making producers like Hammer Films Productions
chose our text Torment and ‘Rumour.’
Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our media product represents a particular social group because of the way it is set
out and with the props and settings we used. For example wealthy women wear pearls
and make up so we included this in our Torment production witch can attract wealthy
people to want to watch our product. The age group for the first task is 25+ and
onwards, also people who are interested in the history (1920’s).
In the first video we made we had objects which were wooden and barley twist
which was made in the 1920’s. Also the building we chose to do the steps was a
historic place which again fitted our era. We did this to make it realistic and so that it
didn’t It was clear from the black and white video, with the furniture and props that it
was set in the 1920’s making it seem realistic attracting more older audiences. One of
the main props was the gun so we looked for a plastic gun that did look like it was an
old one with the brown bits to it. Our second product which is Rumour is aimed at
over 15’s because it has bloody scenes in it which would not be appropriate for
younger individuals.
The language in our first video was formal English with no slang words in it
which would not be difficult to be understood if the audience finds English difficult to
understand. In contrast the second one wasn’t formal; it was a typical teenager talk,
as they are more relaxed when talking to each other. The language choice was not
formal and from their dialogue it was clear that it was like a ‘street talk.’ This would
be an important factor as all teenagers speak in a certain way when they are together.
Also the clothing they had on was tracksuits which most teenagers wear which would
also appeal to them, making it more realistic to the younger audience watching.
The audience that would be perhaps more inserted in the productions would
perhaps be teenagers and young adults ranging from 15 to 24. This is because when I
researched statistics of whom normally watches such films, these were the age groups.
It seems to sell since it promises excitement and thrill. Also that the children under the
age 15 cannot watch it because of the bloody scenes involved.

9. Q5) How did you address your audience?
In the preliminary task we mainly addressed our audience by the choice of props and
wardrobe. Our audience would have watched our production for the era, the storyline
and for the history it was set in. For example we made sure that the furniture we had
fitted our era, we chose to include barley twist furniture with a gramophone which
made it realistic to the audience watching. We also made sure the young lady had
pearls, and expensive clothes showing her wealth which could be attractive for
targeted audience. The audience watching our production would be an older audience
as they are more interested the history which the production set and I also believe that
people interested in gangster and thriller films would like to watch it as it has a
different storyline when compared with normal psychological thriller films watched.
We also addressed our audience with the camera angles as we had shots of the
furniture around the house. There was a close up of the vintage phone and
gramophone to show the audience the time periods it’s in. We included those
particular shots so that the audience would familiarise themselves with the setting.
Our main task addresses its young audience also with the wardrobe and the mise en
Scene. For example the tracksuits and the jeans the girls had on appealed to the
audience as the young audience wears similar clothing because of their age and
because of the trend of that particular type of clothing. We chose to do this to make
the audience imagine themselves in the same situation as they are at similar ages and
that they look at life in a comparable way. I believe that the clothing and the choice of
language draws the audience in, as the girls speeches were informal, casual and more
relaxed when compared to the dialogues between older characters in other films. We
wanted the audience to feel comfortable when watching our production so that the
audience can identify themselves within the characters, as it’s relevant to their life
styles so they can relate to the situation that the two girls are in. Also another way that
Torment pulls its audience to it is that it shows a relationship of two close friends
which the audience can relate to themselves.
The music we chose was excellent to use as there was no copyright issues with it, I
combined two music together building up more tension as they worked well together.
There was silence in some areas which made our audience want to know the reason
for it , also making them look for something ‘jumpy’ as they are there to be ‘excited’
and to be amused. There is an alarm sound in one part of our production, this makes
the audience react.
We made sure that we used more camera angles so that it’s more interesting to our
audience. Younger audience likes catchy shots so we included shots from different
angles, for example we had a shot from the girls back as she was walking backwards
scared. This was a powerful shot as the audience expected something bad to happen
as it gave a feeling of being watched by the mysterious character. Also we wide
angles which set the scene make it appealing.

10. When planning our productions I thought about our target audience so that we
addressed the correct viewers by the choice of our Mise en scene, camera work, music
and dialogue.
Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing
this product?
Throughout the process of making our two productions we had to use the camera
and the equipment which we were given with it like the microphone and the tripod. It
seemed easy to use it and set it up but we realised that the wires had to be placed
correctly as one little mistake can ruin the whole recording. We learnt how to keep the
camera still and how to move it around on the tripod to get different angles to get
good and useful shots which would later give us a wider range of shots to choose
from.
We had a few problems with our preliminary task because our sound wasn’t
detected properly which led to some anomalies in our product, which we then had to
fix and record over. That was an important thing we looked out for in the second time
we were recording because we didn’t want to face the same problems again so we set
up our equipment and checked if it was working alright before we recorded all of the
short clip making sure all wires were plugged and that the camera was fully charged
as it could of caused many problems if we ran out of charge. We made sure that it
worked correctly as we wasted a lot of time when we tried to fix the sounds, as it
affected the characters dialogue.
Using the camera was the easy part when compared with the editing as the Mac's
were new equipments to us with the Adobe Premier. The Adobe Premier was a new
programme for us so we found it difficult to use it at first, but the more we used it the
better we got. I have learnt many things from the programme and I feel more
confident to edit when looked at the first few sessions. Now I can cut the sections I
want from the clip and insert it in the area I want. I also know how to edit them
together and add transitions to it to make it flow smoothly and the way which will suit
a real thriller film. I can also add effect, for example in the first one I made it black
and white to fit the era and now I made the setting slightly darker to put across to the
audience that it was getting late and darkness is a symbol of danger and alarm.
The software Adobe Premier allowed us to play around with the sound, the paste
and the colours of the clips. This was really important as we had to make our Torment
production black and white in a quick paste. It was also important for our second
production as it was longer with mostly music playing at the back creating tension.
The software allowed me to make the sounds louder or quitter so that the production
ran smoothly. The colour adjustments were significant as changing the setting making
it darker in the park for Rumour made a difference showing that it was late making
the audience know that something bad can happen at night to two girls in an empty
park. I think the best part of the software was that you could change the mistakes you
make and that it can be corrected easily and quickly.
The Blog I updated regularly helped me as it showed all my steps which made it
easier for me to see how I was doing. It was also important as I looked back at it so I
can see what I can do next and how I can improve my work. I also had a chance to

11. look back at other blogs; witch gave me a clear idea on what is expected from me. It
helped me develop more ideas and it helped me plan my work in a better and clearer
way so I looked back frequently to update with new information.
Apart from the camera and Adobe Premier, we had to learn how to set up a Blog
page so that we can update it regularly. During the process we had to know how to
use a Blog page and how to change the settings; colours and fonts so that it matched
well with our Thriller topic.
Even thought using Microsoft PowerPoint wasn’t known to me, I had to know
how to hyperlink each page so that it ran smoothly. I had to know how to set it out
correctly so that there was no problem when I tried opening my work.
The Animatic also helped me in both of my productions because we followed the
Animatic and the storyboards so that we didn’t miss out anything as we had to follow
a particular storyline in our first production Torment with the 180 degree rule and
walking into a room and sitting down. The Animatic was done on movie maker
which allowed us to put the photos together with transitions and music which we
found really helpful as it gave us an idea of how it would look like.
Technology is an important factor in films. This is significant because it makes
everything easier and quicker and that you cannot find a good film or a media product
without technology used. When producing films there is technical equipment used to
make the films more interesting, for example there is special effects which is done on
the computer with particular software's and programmes which makes the films much
better for example films like Avatar are made with lots of editing which proved that
the audience wants to see films like this. I believe that it is really hard to make or find
films without the use of technology and that it is found in nearly every media product
made. Technology makes producing films easier and much quicker which makes
more independent media which then leads to convergence of other media.

12. Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full product?
I believe that there is a big difference between our preliminary and main task
because when compared the two productions I can see the improvement between the
two. In the first one thing didn’t work out the way we wanted to, for example we had
a problem with the sound which took us a lot of time to try and fix. When we did our
main task we were aware that it could have happened again so we looked over it
before we started to record the product.
Apart from the sound we realised that we didn’t have as many as different shots
in the first production we made which was torment. So when looking at the second
task Rumour we can see clearly that more time and more thinking was put in to get
the different angle shots. We had a wider variety in the second one and we put across
clearly by the camera angles that they were being watched and spied on. Also when
looked at our Animatic for both of the productions it clear that we paid attention to
detail , which is clear from the way that the Animatic and the product looks really
similar.
In the first one we couldn’t find the car we needed, as it was difficult to have
access to a vintage car. We searched for the cars but we only found cars that was
driven in the 60’s and 70’s and not the old vintage cars, and the one we found we
couldn’t get photos or recordings of it, so we had to exclude that option from our plan.
We would have liked to have the car because it would have got our era to the
audience clearly, but it didn’t work out the way we wanted so we had to cut out the
vintage car idea from our production. We checked museums and vintage car
companies and couldn't arrange a suitable car for ‘Torment’, there were many rules
such as not touching the car and not sitting in the car which wouldn’t be useful for our
production so we didn’t include that particular scene. In the second task, which was
the main task we made sure that the props needed was easily findable so that there
wasn’t no problems when recording. The main thing we needed was the food dye
which was easy to find which allowed us to start earlier than we expected.
In the first production I didn’t include any good transitions or effects apart from
one or two as it was based in the 1920’s. In the 1920’s there wasn’t good technology
so we didn’t want to over do our transitions so that it was realistic and not over done.
In the second productions editing sessions we knew how to use the adobe premier
better who meant that we could of experimented more. Also we already had some
skills from the first sessions we had, so we developed our skills and included more
effects which pulled up our second product into a higher standard when compared.
We knew how to change the speed which made our text better which giving it a good
effect. I included a slow motion as the girl let go of her friend’s hand which made it
more dramatic and memorable. Another noticeable leap from Torment to Rumour is
that I played around with the music and the sounds more which created more tension
as I lowered the music as they came to the woods and made it louder when the girls
were screaming for help.

13. Improvements from Torment To ‘Rumour’
We had more skills the second time we recorded so we got different angles so
that we can set the scene better the second time. For example we had close ups and
shots from different angles which made it more realistic when compared with real
media products. When the young girl was moving backwards we got this shot from
three different angles which built up tension and made it much better when compared
with our first product.
Also in the second product we had more confidence when we were editing as we
had more skills the second time around. I learnt how to play around with the sounds
and colours which helped me change the colour making it darker which gave it a
better effect as it is a thriller convention to have mysterious things happening in the
night in deserted areas. I also joined to music together lowering the sounds when I
want to build up tension as silence makes the audience wait for something negative to
happen. I couldn’t play around with the music for Torment as I didn’t have the skills
to, if I had a second time to work on my Torment I would have liked to add lines to
make it more realistic as just having it black and white doesn’t make it as practical I
want it to be to the audience.
In my second production I showed the story from both of the sides, so I had a
shot of the girls talking to each other and I had the mysterious character watching
them. I believe that it was a good way of editing as it showed both of the sides point
of view showing that there is voyeurism taking place.
We were more experience and we had more knowledge on how to use the
camera, including different camera angles in the second production. We improved
our editing skills, so when we had our second go at out full production we realised
that we were more able to improve our main task. Our editing skills improved as we
experimented using adobe premier and I believe this improvement can be seen when
looked at both of our productions Rumour and Torment.
In my second production I had two slow motions which gave a good effect as it
showed clearly to the audience the facial expressions of the girl leaving her friends
hand. It shows that she is scared and upset to let go of her hand, wanting to save her
own life. Her body language and face expressions are shown as she gets up running to
escape. I also had a slow motion effect at the end when the girls are on the floor dead,
the camera tilted from their legs to their face in a slow way, which makes the
audience want to see there face quickly, wanting to know that they are alright.