Explain the methods you used to attract your audience in your AS coursework.
In the 1920s there was a theory that came in to place called the “Hypodermic Syringe Theory” which was thought up by The Frankfurt School, Germany. It suggest that we are manipulated my media texts, for example if we are told something through the media we are likely to believe it. Nobody challenges its truth and someone’s mood and attitude and reflect on that piece of media text. Media can be very influential and we can interpret it in different ways. For example we wouldn’t challenge the news but news is created and therefore gossip is created. Different people have different beliefs and we have our own opinions and common sense but sometimes even this doesn’t stop us from believing everything recorded and reported.
There is something else called screen theory and this shows that different Medias are presented and take in in different ways. For example cinemas rarely address the audience directly and broadsheet papers have a more formal mode of address compared to tabloids. Whereas TV media is aimed to attain and maintain the audience attention.
However according to Herbert Bulmer in 1950 the audience varies and can be based on different social class. Mass audience is anonymous and there is little interaction between mass audiences as it is loosely organised.
Our AS coursework task was to create a Trailer for a thriller film. In order for this to work we needed to know what the plot of our story was and how we would convey certain snippets to draw the audience in. The main and vital techniques we used related to 3 separate sections: Camera, editing, sound and Mis-en-scene. These are all very important sections which make up a whole positive media picture in a way to make your piece successful.
We knew that we wanted our piece to be eerie and mysterious so it was important we had the right camera shots and angles to make this happen authentically. We concentrated on making the shot as realistic as possible and this normally meant we had to use strange and different angles. For example we didn’t want the audience to see our main characters face until the end of the whole advertisement sequence so we used allot of shots to make this happen. For example we had a lot of low angle shots which only showed her lower body, we also used this on some participants being used to add a sense of mystery towards their character. We also focused on the back of her body so we could see all of her features of her body and not her face. I think this is important as the audience member feels just that little bit closer to seeing the character as a whole but there is still something missing which makes them more intrigued to see their face, therefore making them stay connected to the screen. We also used close ups on certain scenes of the advert to make the audience seem interested and focussed on what’s going on. For example in the very first scene there is a close up of the volunteer poster. We decided to do a close up as it is intriguing the audience to the nature of the experiment and gives them something concrete to look out for in the rest of the exert. I thought it was important for this to be in the first scene as it makes them instantly sit up and pay attention, also using a close up was important as there was writing and this automatically makes it easier to read. In the car park scene we used a low shot and the shot composition makes it more mysterious by just showing the bottom of the car. The audience are not yet aware of who is in control of the car. I think this is important to have as you don’t immediately want to give anything away, especially with our film being a Thriller genre.
We used the Tripod because it made the Image and filming steady. We didn't want a lot of shaking in our piece as it would look really unprofessional. But in some places we made it shakier to make it seem like the audience are more involved. This helps the effect of feeling like they are there and getting involved in the situation. It was good using the Tripod because you have total control. There is a bar that you hold so you can get smooth transitions to follow a character whether they are moving left or right or whether you have to move the camera up or down. It also makes it a lot easier to ZOOM in when the camera is on a Tripod as it feels a lot steadier.
With regards to editing this too is also a very important aspect of the whole media puzzle. Without strong editing it is likely for a media piece to look amateur and un professional, even if there is an amazing story line and good camera shots.
In our Thriller we tried to use as many authentic editing techniques as possible to relate to our film and its genre. For example throughout our film we had a rather quick cutting rate which made our film fit more with a heartbeat, relating back to the theme of mystery and the unknown. We decided to do this as we thought that a slow cutting rate wouldn’t really have the same effect as one usually relates that to something more serious and uses a lot of dialogue. However we did think about making the cutting rate really slow to build suspense but in a different way. In the end we decided not to go with this as we only had a short amount of time and we wanted to get more scenes in our thriller sequence. We used black screen and white bold writing for our different credits which were put in between different scenes. We decided to do white on black as it is bold and eye catching for the audience. We thought this to be important as we wanted the different names to be glued in to their heads. We used a medium shot of her getting out the car so that not much is given away but the audience are still enticed in to the cut. The car also shows what age the character is and by using an edit that focuses mainly on the car means that the audience are aware of it and notice different things. For example the driver’s age and gender, another aspect they can relate to whether it triggers their age or a thought of someone they know/ are related to age. It can make the film something more personal to them, especially as it was aimed at teenagers as a target audience. In some scenes we used a tilt and a reverse zoom to show who the character is. By the camera starting at the feet it adds to a mystery of who it is, the camera then reverse zooms to reveal the person. This keeps the audience aware of what is going on and locked in to see what happens next.
I think it is very important for the audience to be able to relate to the character and this is always made easier by using different editing techniques. By using different techniques it means that the character is able to be shown to the best of its ability making it effortless for the consumer to make a connection with.
Another very important convention is Mis-en-scene. Without this then nothing would work realistically and certainly not professionally. Mis-en-scene includes all the props, setting, actors (expression, emotion, figure etc) lighting, location and more. Without this a film wouldn’t be a film. We needed to make sure that our film had everything to make it realistic and well presented and the bulk of that came down to Mis-en-scene. For example we needed to think about what and who our main character they were going to be, whether they be male, female, old, young, fat, thin etc. We decided to use a girl as we thought it would be more controversial but in a positive way. Something different as males are represented at being bold and brave and females not so much. All the films we researched had male lead roles for thrillers. For example Phone booth, The usual suspects, Silence of the lambs. We thought that relating to audience it would be popular as females can relate and males like watching females. We dressed her in normal clothes again to relate to an ordinary teenage girl which the female audience members could connect to. She looked like a normal teenage girl in relation to facial features and maturity looks and the makeup she wore, the way her hair was represented and the way she walks etc. We didn’t need to add any major make up to our actor and we didn’t need to go out and purchase and extreme clothes. By having all the stuff ourselves (being a teenager) was a good indicator of where we stood in the proceedings of representing a “normal teenage girl”
We agreed on setting the scene in a school as again our target audience can relate to their current situation in education. Even if the person watching the film was older that school year they could still relate in a way that they were once at school. We thought our theme could connect to everyone in some way. The thought of an empty school also seems very eerie in its self, the thought of such a vast place being empty yet still having a feeling of movement. We had to think about 1) where the action took place, 2) when the action took place, 3) the mood set, 4) the characters involved and 5) the linking to the genre of the film. The school scene fitted these categories well with ideas in our heads of what it would look like as a final piece. We asked fellow school mates how they would react to a film being set like that to get an idea of audience desire and they all said that it was a good idea with strong link to them.
With regards to lighting we wanted to go for a contrast of dim and dingy to being bright and stark. We decided that in all the scenes where our character was outside we would have dark lighting to make it seem mysterious and very wary. It was filmed in England and all of the audience, no matter what age or gender could relate to the weather in England being on the whole awful. However it was something new for the audience to be introduced to such bright lighting on the indoor corridors of the school. This added to the enticement. For example the lighting in the corridors make the setting look almost clinical. This challenger the normal thriller conventions as thrillers usually use dark lighting at the most important parts. This will make the audience automatically have more interest. The lighting is a big part in setting the mood and the theme. If the lighting was all colourful it would suggest a happier theme but this is not the case here. It is setting a serious and mysterious atmosphere.
The sound used in any media piece is also very important. Just by listening to the music you can tell what kind of genre the media is going to be. If there was no picture and just music it would be easy to tell the genre or theme if it was doing in a good way which links to the subject. We created our music our self as we knew exactly what we wanted. We had a continuous tune which gets slightly faster as the action and goings on occur. We have no dialogue in our piece which adds to the mystery and builds suspense in the audience. The audience will be on tender hooks not knowing what is going to happen and by this reaction it would seem that we would have achieved our thriller aim. We tried to relate our musical score to a heart beat sound as this adds tension and the audience would be able to feel theirs in their chest going at the same time. As it was the same music all the way through it would get stuck in the audiences head and every time they heard it they would be able to relate it back to the film. The only diagetic sound used was the scream. This would get an immediate reaction from the audience, drawing them in closer. The scream will seem striking to the audience as it is the only diagetic sound in the whole track. The only sounds that are heard bar the music track are the heavy footsteps of the main character as she runs down the corridor and the doors slamming. This all happens in the climax so instantly makes the audience sit up and pay even more attention.
