This is my Thriller Evaluation

1. OuiParty PowerPoint
Evaluation
The Coopers’ Company and Coborn
School
Faith Adamson
Candidate Number: 4000

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
One of my main priorities in the making of my thriller, was to make sure that the
thriller conventions of a film had been met. In order to accomplish this, I firstly
went over the thriller conventions which had previously been discussed in our
media lesson and also refer to the primary research I had done beforehand and
research some more to gain a greater knowledge of the different types of thrillers.
Doing so, I found that our storyline was closely linked to the two films ‘Paranormal
Activity’ and ‘Final Destination 3’. They were similar as our story also had a non-
human antagonist similar to Paranormal Activity and, our story contained flashbacks
which was similar to Final Destination 3.
Conventions ‘OuiParty’ use.
• The plot, storyline and narrative also contribute to the suspense of the thriller. An
example of this is in the second flashback. The homeless person is simply walking
along and picks up the Ouija Board. The music playing in this sequence contrasts
to what is happening at the time. This music builds tension, as the two contrast to
each other.

3. • There are also themes of Voyeurism in our thriller.
This is seen at the very beginning of the thriller in the
graveyard scene. The camera is behind the tree and
the audience are seen as onlookers to the characters
sleeping on the floor. This makes them seem
vulnerable and the antagonist superior.
• The theme of Voyeurism is repeated and shown
when the protagonist is seen in a mid shot,
waking up. This creates an enigma as the audience
are left wondering who is watching them and
more importantly the main protagonist?
• We also created an enigma around the
antagonist in the middle of our thriller, this
is when we are first introduced to the
antagonist and the homeless person. We
create suspense around the character by
having a worms eye mid shot of the
homeless person turning around slowly
with the antagonist behind him wearing a
black hooded cloak. By not letting the
audience put a face to the antagonist, this
created a sense of suspense for the
audience as they are left with the question
‘Who is the antagonist?’ and ‘what does it
want?’

4.  The soundtrack which was used within the second flashback was non-diegetic
and also repeated throughout the thriller. It was a scary and almost creepy
sound which got louder towards the end of the piece. It is very faint in certain
parts so that you could hear the characters speaking. It created almost a
recognizable motif and as it builds up suspense, the audience could tell
something was going to happen to one of the characters whenever it was heard.
By using this piece of sound, it creates a eerie atmosphere and mise-en-scene.
• My group decided on a one word title, ‘OuiParty’. This is often used in other
thrillers as it is very simplistic but can have a different meaning and contain an
even bigger sub-text which may be provided later on in the thriller.
The word ‘OuiParty’ is a mixture between ‘Ouija board’ and ‘party.’ These two
are both identified in our thriller and this is why we think the title works.
The editing of the title is used to reflect the mind of the main protagonist. The
non-diegetic soundtrack within the sequence implies something bad is going to
happen as it is also repeated later on. It can also be used to establish the
confusion of the main protagonist especially further on into the thriller.

5. How ‘OuiParty’ develops or challenges
conventions.
As our main protagonist is female, it is expected that she will stereotypically vulnerable.
The main protagonist is an intelligent character rather than the stereotypical type, so by
making the character unlike others, we are challenging this certain convention.
Our thriller very much plays on the conventions of extraordinary events happen in an
ordinary situation, containing themes of voyeurism and it also touches on a scene near
the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril and a crime at the core of the
narrative. By including these, our thriller certainly develops these conventions.
These conventions are shown at the beginning, middle and end of our thriller. E.g.
Crime at the core of the Protagonist is in peril – Voyeurism –at the beginning of the graveyard
narrative – the homeless at the end when she scene where the audience is looking at the
person is killed in the gasps, they audience are characters who are in a vulnerable state,
middle of the thriller left wondering what
happened to her.

6. Do the thriller conventions you have used
indicate a sub-genre?
Had our thriller been made into a full length film, conventions of a psychological
and a serial thriller would be present as shown in the opening sequence.
There are signs of it being There are also signs of
a psychological thriller the film being a serial
from the flashbacks the thriller. This is shown in
main protagonist ‘Grace’ the killing of the
gets from touching certain
homeless person which
objects. For example the
Ouija Board and the dead Grace sees in the
homeless person. The flashback. The antagonist
audience can see that she has killed the homeless
is particularly scarred from person in relation to the
the flashback she receives Ouija board which hints
from the homeless person towards the fact that the
as she gasps and then antagonist could be
links the two together. linked into killing
This represents a mind-
everybody who is
game the killer has set-up
for the protagonist and involved with the Ouija
therefore links into the board. This therefore
psychological sub-genre. relates to the serial
thriller sub-genre.

7. How we analyzed ‘Paranormal Activity’ and
‘Final Destination 3’ to influence our
opening sequence.
Link to ‘Paranormal Activity’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDNjFJUyUz4
We looked at the idea that ‘Paranormal Activity’ showed of having a
antagonist that wasn’t a human or animal and was almost non-
existent.
Link to ‘Final Destination 3’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nek7VJQtsuE
We also looked at the idea ‘Final Destination 3’ had of the
flashback as we interpreted this in our own way and we both
had more than one flashback.
We then decided to incorporate these into our thriller
sequence. We did this by including flashbacks and making
them similar to the ones used in Final Destination 3. We
also made the antagonist non-existent.

8. 2. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
As a group we decided to focus mainly on the representation of
gender.
We had both males and females in our thriller but decided to go
against the typical stereotype and present the dominant gender as
a female.
By using a stereotypical group of
teenagers going out for the night.
They then wake up in the
morning in an unfamiliar place
where strange things happen.
This covers the convention of
extraordinary events happening
in an ordinary situation. This also
relates to our target audience
We used different angles of the main
who are teenagers around the
ages of 16-17. By doing more protagonist to show her dominance. For
research, I found that more than example there were a few low angled or
half of the people aged 16 and worms eye view shots to make her seem more
over prefer to see films with important and powerful. This can also be
characters their age group as they related to please our target audience,
can relate and empathise with especially the girls as we have shown an
them. intelligent, dominant female protagonist.

9. 3. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
‘OuiParty’ is a film that could have been created in
Hollywood with a star cast, but also an independent film
with actors that may not be famous. This is because it is
more suited to the style of the film and would make it
appear more interesting when released.
‘OuiParty’ would obviously have to be
developed into a full-length film but this
would be good as it could expand further
into the psychological thriller sub-genre. This
would be viewed in places such as the
cinema at a full length, which could also
If it was kept as a short film, this would idealistically only lead into more films with a continuous plot
be available on the internet with things such as ‘YouTube’ that would be similar to the original. The
being the main provider for it. This would not be film would be advertised on things such as
advertised and would attract a smaller audience and be posters, the internet, and newspapers in
passed on by word of mouth or social networking sites order to attract a bigger audience.
such as ‘Facebook’.

10. 4. Who would be the audience for your
media product?
• Our main target audience would be teenagers (or people aged from 14-17). This is because
the cast of ‘OuiParty’ are only teenagers and also, this target audience can relate to the
characters and the situations portrayed in the film.
• As some of our film goes against the typical stereotype other films have, by being different
in terms of having an intelligent dominant female protagonist, this draws the audience in
and makes them interested in the film.
• The storyline refers to teenagers going out with friends and ending up somewhere
unfamiliar to them. As this is quite stereotypical, this could also attract teenagers as they
can put themselves in the characters shoes and may have experienced a night out similar to
this. The only difference is that instead of the normal night out, our characters wake up
finding themselves in an unusual surrounding and strange things happen to them. By
covering the convention of extraordinary things happening in an ordinary situation, this
may entice the audience into wanting to know what happens.
In the film ‘Final Destination 3’, there are also a group of friends who
go out together to a fairground. This films also covers the convention
of something extraordinary happening in an ordinary situation and
there is a rollercoaster which crashes. This is closely linked to our
thriller and is a big influence on our idea of a group of friends going
out and something strange happening.

11. 5. How did you attract/address your
audience?
• In our opening sequence, we originally had pictures of the teenagers
getting ready to go out. We used the effect of pictures appearing on the
screen with a camera effect accompanying it. This technique is different
from other thrillers which may start with an establishing shot or a close up.
By being different, we hoped to capture the audiences attention and make
them focus of the pictures of the three characters being happy and
enjoying themselves.
• We later changed this as it did not fit in with other stereotypical thriller
conventions. We start off with the graveyard scene and the camera showing
the audience who they are. As the audience no longer know how they got
there etc. we hoped this would entice the audience as they want to know
what happened to the teenagers.
• The graveyard scene starts with an establishing shot and also a point of view of the antagonist. This shot
shows vulnerability of the five characters as they are asleep on the ground in an unfamiliar surrounding.
When the main protagonist is introduced, the camera directly above her also showing her vulnerability as
she wakes up, it is a mid-shot which draws attention to her eyes as she wakes up.

12. 6. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing the product?
The main equipment used to film was a simple camera and tripod.
I didn’t find any difficulties with this equipment other than the leads used to connect
the camera to the computer. The leads were not very strong and also they were
different to the ports I had on my own computer at home.
I used this camera for the all of the filming and I found it very simple and easy to use.
I had to use a different computer which had the correct port to connect the camera
and also I uploaded it onto the school computers then exported the files and then
saved them onto a memory stick to bring home and edit. This has taught me to
always check to export it properly and to back up files as they can easily be lost.
Programmes I Used:
I mainly used Adobe Premiere Pro for the editing of my film. I found this easy and
also I did not have the updated Serif Movie Plus that my school was using.
I also used Adobe After Effects which was used for the flashback with the
homeless person and Serif used to put the first flashback with the Ouija board.

13. 7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel
that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full
product (main task)?
Compared to our preliminary task, I think that I have learnt many new things in terms of
editing and filming.
We planned everything to the very last detail when doing our main task, unlike our
preliminary task where we were very last minute and were very unorganised.
For our full product, we researched the We also created a storyboard which included the different
setting in more detail and decided where to shot types we would use as well as the story. After presenting
film exactly. We decided to get the effect of this and receiving feedback, we took the advice given and
morning, to go on a bright day (preferably made the changes straight away.
in the morning) and if the light was not Here is our thriller storyboard:
brilliant, increase the brightness on the http://faith93.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/thriller-
editing programs.
storyboard-4/
In conclusion, I think that our group could have been
slightly more organized in terms of the scripts and props
which were needed, but overall I feel confident with our
finished product and am very happy with it and the overall
use of camera shots and angle types I have learnt. All of
the things learnt during this process have been put to a
good use and will be used in any future project I do.

14. Links to ‘OuiParty’ Videos.
Final Cut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRJH3J2m
sf4
First Rough Cut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahKTN8X-
vdg&feature=related
Second Rough Cut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IyBbOgq
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