Sicarius

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

Evaluation Task 6 - What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In the following Evaluation Task our group annotated our thriller sequence on YouTube through the use of notes. We analysed in what ways we incorporated different technologies to enhance our thriller and placed our annotations properly throughout the video. Our group together wrote down all the different technologies that we have applied towards our thriller, expanded upon them and then together wrote them up on notes placed during our sequence. By doing so we realized that we learned hot to use and explored using editing techniques, colour grading, camera equipment (slider, tripod), the microphone, Adobe After Effects, Logic Pro X, and etc.

Evaluation Task 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

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

I interviewed men and women from different age groups to examine what should be the target audience for our thriller. In the interview I asked people how old they are, what was their favourite genre, what do they expect and like about thrillers, and whether they would or not go see our thriller based on a summary of what it is. Based upon the interviews I have conducted nearly everybody stated that they enjoy thrillers, and were able to clearly describe a thriller that they would like to see. Additionally everybody who I have interviewed had a favourite thriller and eagerly answered yes, that they would love to see our thriller. This means that our film introduction is able to reach a wide variety of audiences, which is partially excellent. Although on the other hand it disallows us from creating a targeted marketing campaign. For this reason I examined the interviews in depth to see which group of people were most excited when talking about thriller, and seemed to be knowledgeable about the subject. Based on this research I, together with my group, believe that our target audience should be males and females aged 15-20. I think so because the people who are this age and were interviewed outlined clearly that they love suspense and tension within a thriller, which is what our thriller in our opinion offers. Furthermore the way this part of the people interviewed reacted to the summary of our thriller gave me the impression that they would enjoy the thriller more than others, which is why we chose this group of people to be our target audience. In conclusion teenagers aged between 15-20 are the audience we will target with our thriller and marketing campaign.

The following four pictures represent the Facebook profile page and wall of a teenager aged 17. The snapshots taken clearly indicate that Jason is interested in both classic thrillers as well as newer ones. For instance the one of the photos displays a trailer for, at the time, upcoming thriller John Wick. Although it perhaps cannot be seen on the image, the teenager expresses his excitement for the release of the film based on the amazingly done trailer. A different post shows a picture of an immediate classic, Shutter Island. In this post the teenager praises the film for its amazing plot line. It is also important to note that Shutter Island is a psychological thriller. Yet another post shows another poster of John Wick, this furthermore indicates that the teenager has enjoyed the thriller John Wick, which is an action/drama thriller. Our thriller sequence is a thriller that possesses certain aspects from John Wick and Shutter Island. This aspects include but are not exclusive to tension building, suspense and action. Thus this is a perfect example of an individual from the age group of 15-20 year olds that our group will take on as our target audience. This extra research simply serves as evidence that when choosing teenagers as our target audience, we were correct to do so.

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

Evaluation Task 3 from matt pasek

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

In the introduction to the thriller Sicarius gender is represented through the use of camera angles/shots, editing, sound and Mise-en-scene. The husband’s outfit consists of a blue shirt, a yellow tie, a waistcoat and black pants that altogether give the connotations of him being a powerful male character. The character is shown waking up whilst being hangover, and leaving his bedroom to grab liquor from the kitchen. Meanwhile his wife is shown cutting fruit in the kitchen and inquiring whether her husband would appreciate some breakfast. The following adheres to the stereotype that the male in a marriage is the provider of wealth and that the wife’s place, is in the kitchen.

This can be seen through the contrast between the attire that the husband and his wife are wearing. While the husband looks like he is prepared to go to work, the wife is in her robe preparing food for the husband, placing her lower in the ranks of society. Additionally the wife asks her husband if he would like some breakfast in a pleading like manner, whilst the husband is opening a bottle of liquor, which further shows that the husband is the more authoritative character. All of the following represents the stereotype of male supremacy and the objectification of women. This representation of gender through mise-en-scene is contradicted in the last scene. In this scene the husband answers to a covert figure in a way that displays he cannot have his wife find out about what they are speaking about. As the conversation advances, the husband gradually becomes more worried through his actions. Through this the audience can see that the wife has authority in the marriage, and can stand up to her husband about certain matters. This idea of the female gender being commanding is reinforced when the wife shoots her husband and implies about the job that the covert figure was speaking about. The gun held by the wife reinforces the idea even further. This completely subverts the gender roles in the media piece, especially the expectations of a woman in society.

The male gender is once again shown as commanding and powerful through the style of editing, and camera usage in the sequence. For instance there are three shots displaying the wife cutting fruit. This repeated representation of the same task through the use of editing builds upon the stereotype that a woman’s only occupation in a marriage is cooking food and making her husband happy, whilst the husband takes care of all the important matters. An example of an issue that the husband would have to deal with is the covert figure, which appears in front of the house. The way that the camera pans towards the door and reveals the figure builds tension and shows the husband facing a possible dilemma. Also from another point of view it displays the covert male figure as significant and powerful, adding to the stereotype of males being more sinister characters than woman. After the following the wife is once again shown cutting fruit, although this time the frame cuts black and after a period of time reveals a close up of a knife being struck into a table. This type of editing together with the close-up strongly suggests to the audience that the wife may after all be the more sinister character, subverting the before displayed stereotypes. The scene outside of the house continues to display the covert male figure as powerful through the use of close-ups, but it additionally shows the wife as a similarly powerful character when she shoots her husband at the point at which he is shown as a fragile individual. The effects created around the gunshot support this representation. The camera shots and style of editing at first represent the male gender as more powerful, although ultimately show both genders to be equally influential.

The use of sound in the extract connotes gender stereotypes similarly to the way that camera, editing, and mise-en-scene do throughout the opening sequence of the thriller. The first couple of sounds uttered by the husband when he is waking up show the connotations of his character being a drunk, conforming to the stereotype of the typical alcoholic husband. An example of this kind of a sound is the long moan voiced by the husband when he covers his face with his hands during the scene. This although is contradicted for the first time when the wife speaks to her husband and vice versa in a way that it represents the male gender as being the more commanding gender. Although this is once again countered during the wife’s last line of dialogue during which her voice becomes more confident, and after her husbands voice was shown as weaker during his conversation with the covert figure. The pleonastic sound of the knife being struck into the table further builds upon the power of the wife and her gender. The non-diegetic underscore in the thriller does not conform or subvert to any stereotypical views about gender in the extract. That is except for the two builds up which lead to the pleonastic sound of the knife being struck, and the gunshot outside of the house, which both add towards the strength of the female gender.

In conclusion this extract both conforms to and subverts stereotypical views of gender. The mise-en-scene illustrates the female gender as ultimately being the more powerful. The camera angles/shots and editing style together with the sound display both genders as being equally influential. Together the following construct gender roles in this extract as being more or less equal.