2. Q-1 How does my product challenge, develop or use the forms and
conventions of real media products?
3. Q-1 [Narrative and Genre]
The title sequence I developed is for a media product idea my group
created called Arctophilia.
Arctophilia is a psychological thriller following a photographer (and
former investigator) who reintroduces himself to his previous work to assist in
the capture of a man guilty of several child homicides.
The Narrative of my media product follows a relatively conventional plot
when compared to other crime thriller such as Se7en or the more recent
Batman films. Like the previous examples, the storyline features binaries of
good versus evil, order versus chaos and common protagonist and
antagonist traits, pitting a hardened and logical detective against a ruthless,
elusive and possibly deranged serial killer.
4. Q-1 [Camera, Editing and Special Effects]
In order to build tension and to allow the audience to identify the genre, I
used various Camera angles, edits and special effects that I thought were
appropriate to the genre.
In many of the shots I used close-ups of objects as they create feelings
of tension and claustrophobia when combined with low-key lighting. As most
of the shots were of objects, close-ups that focused on them allows them to
appear personal or important while they would appear meaningless if viewed
in a mid shot or wide shot.
To reinforce the psychological aspect, much of the editing focused on
jerky motions and visual distortions that have been placed in parallel to the
soundtrack. The mix of audio and visuals make the distortions feel far more
violent and give them presence.
5. Q-1 [Lighting]
As I wanted to capture the atmospheres often found in both
psychological thrillers and noir films, I used conventional lighting conditions,
with many high contrast, low-key and silhouetted shots, and adjusted the
hue of the scene through both editing and physical objects such as
transparent gel sheets and coloured beverages placed in front of a light
source to enhance the red and earthy tones for a more dull or menacing
look.
To reinforce the genre and narrative, I also decided to use dark rooms
with office lamps to create very high contrast shots with intense light focusing
on particular elements to generate an interrogation room vibe due to the
police interrogation room being deep-rooted iconographic imagery.
6. Q-1 [Character Introduction]
My title sequence focuses on the introduction of the antagonist and the
crimes and traits associated with him.
In the short period that antagonist is shown in the sequence he is
silhouetted and shown to be standing and slowly raising a teddy bear.
The silhouetting of the character introduces an enigma and makes the
audience question who the character is and why he is closely inspecting a
child’s stuffed toy. This also helps to identify that the character is in fact the
antagonist as the true identity and motives of antagonists are often revealed
towards the end of conventional thrillers.
7. Q-1 [Title]
As I wanted describe a large part of the plot (specifically the motive
behind the antagonist’s action) to the audience in a way that was simple and
effective I decided to simply name the product ‘Arctophilia’
The simplicity of the one word title allowed for such a major plot point to
be given to to the audience while offering little knowledge to what the film is
about, presenting an enigma to the audience to intrigue them and produce
suspense through that fact that the audience will not know what to expect.
The decision was also made due to character representation (covered in
Question 2)
8. Q-2 How does my product represent particular social groups? [age, gender
and class]
In my title sequence I have represented the victims in the plot as teddy bears, reflecting the
innocence and age of the victims.
The antagonist in my media product is a homicidal male character, who I represented with
a partially shaded wind-up clown that slowly sways and various effects used in the title
sequence. I used the clown’s movement, along with jittery effects, camera edits and visual
distortions to inform the audience of the antagonists twisted and violent personality and hoped
to evoke uneasiness and fear by exploiting the fear of clowns that some people have.
In the original plot, the antagonist was a kidnapper and was intended to hold a child
ransom. With influence from SE7EN we decided to turn the antagonist into a serial killer and
after combining our influences with the original plot we decided on a serial killer who had an
obsession with collecting teddy bears, hence the title Arctophilia (Love of bears // Love of
collecting teddy bears).
To represent the victims we used teddy bears in several shots, as they directly relate to the
plot, and a recording of a music box as the soundtrack as they effectively reflect the age of the
victims. The soundtrack was slowed and reversed and the shots were visually distorted and
jerky to reinforce the idea of a distorted mind and to connote a corruption of innocence through
violent means.
9. Q-2 {cont.}
Part of the reasoning behind the title ‘Arctophilia’ along with the shot of the
antagonist with the teddy bear was that I wanted to evoke hatred and uneasiness by
drawing parallels to pedophilia. While the character does not actually have this trait
(though it was considered in previous ideas after a brief analysis of London to
Brighton) I wanted to bring the ideas of abjection that Julia Kristeva developed so that
I can create a character that is genuinely feared or hated by the audience. This also
allows for the audience to sympathise with the protagonist’s struggles more and view
him as a symbol of order.
10. Q-3 What institution will distribute my media product?
Due to the themes that may be more disturbing and unpopular in the US [Child
Homicide // Parallels to pedophilia] and my desire for the initial distributor to be British
I have decided that Vertigo are the best distributors for my media product.
Vertigo are known for the distribution of a number of products with varying
themes (including London to Brighton, a film with similar themes to my product) and
are very supportive of independent British films.
For the funding and airing of my product I believe that Channel 4 would be most
suitable as they support films of all age ratings and various themes and are more
tolerant of violence and profanity.
11. Q-4 Who would be the target audience of the product?
To determine what age group to aim my product at I presented multiple people
with a questionnaire to retrieve data on their tastes and expectations in thriller films
and TV shows.
The retrieval of data from the potential audience is a crucial step in developing a
media product as the overall success and popularity is entirely decided by the
viewers.
After analysing the data I found that crime and psychological thrillers were the
most popular amongst the group, a large fraction of them were interested in
suspense, complex plots and deep or relatable characters, and many of the expected
mature themes like murder and loss or betrayal of loved ones.
From this I determined that my product would be aimed at an audience of ages
18+ due to the demand for complexity and maturity and the fact that all who
participated in answering the questionnaire that were in the age group of 13-18 years
old were in the upper region of that age group. While it is possible to achieve both
with a product aimed at lower ages it is much harder to produce due to the reduced
amount of subject matter that can be explored.
12. Q-5 How does my product attract and address the audience?
With the use of the audience questionnaire I allowed the audience to have an
impact on the development of the project, providing them with a chance to steer it
towards their preferences.
As many people were interested in psychological thrillers and suspense, I
created the title sequence in a way that identified the project with both of those
aspects through camera use and editing.
13. Q-6 What knowledge of technologies have I gained over the course of this
project?
Through this project I have developed knowledge of both the physical and digital
technologies used to create a media product and alternatives to such technologies.
CAMERA AND LIGHTING
Through the filming of the title sequence and research on previously made films and sequences
I have learned of the various techniques used to create particular shots (such as the famous
tracking shot in Citizen Kane) and generate visual effects using lighting.
During the filming we used a Panasonic Full HD video recorder and filmed the shot in
1920x1080. While using the camera and a lamp I created high contrast shots by altering the
camera’s and lens settings to draw emphasis of particular features of the scene. To create a
scene with a unique watery effect I found that rather than spending large amounts of time in a
visual effects program I could use a faster alternative to technology, being a bottle of watered
down Dr Pepper. Creating these scenes helped my to improve my skills in adjusting the
camera’s settings and using lighting to affect the overall tone and aesthetic of a scene.
EDITING
Through the use of Adobe Premiere CS6 I have improved my understanding of the editing
process and the tools that can be used within editing programs. Using audio, camera footage,
visual effects and fonts I learned how the tone of a sequence can be changed both mildly and
drastically by using varying arrangements.
14. Q-7 After looking back at my preliminary piece what knowledge do I feel I
have gained?
When looking back at the previous task I feel that my abilities using a
camera, my editing skills and my understanding of shot composition have
vastly improved. However, I feel that my planning and organisational skills
have not developed much as I faced similar in both tasks during the filming
phase due to the lack of sufficient planning and a finalised storyboard.
In terms of the development process and the roles and components
involved in creating a media product, I feel I have a much greater
understanding than I had prior to finishing this project.
