Sunday, January 31, 2010
Script!
Character profiles!
Music!
Pre Production video diaries
All my Pre-Production thriller research
Thursday, January 28, 2010
HWK
Media Homework – for 21/1/10
Audience – A group of people who have relations in interests, employing any media product.
Institution – An organisation or company that provides media content, whether for profit, the public, or other motivations the company may have. This includes your understanding that the media is a business, and you notice the relationships between the companies or organisations and the public. Allowing you to see the Media as a form of power.
Q – How many ways can you 'read' something produced by the BBC?
The BBC distributes its products through many different techniques, that have been improved with the technology, over the years. There main broadcasting techniques are;
BBC news, BBC radio, BBC online and BBC Tv. BBC news started as a 1 channel show, broadcasting important information to the UK and even British news to the republic of Ireland. Now the BBC have there 1 analogue channel (BBC 1) and there digital channels such as News 24 or news and weather etc. accessed through the red button. BBC radio have many channels these days, available through normal radio, digital TV, satellite Tv and Digital radio. One of the best known radio stations, from the BBC is Radio 1. As for BBC online, it has its main websites, with several branches to the local news, which is also viewed on Tv. It now has extra feature including BBC I player, in which you can download, or view online, Tv shows, or the news etc. that has been previously shown on Tv. BBC Tv are Tv shows funded, made and distributed all by the BBC.
Q - How can the audience engage with Doctor Who? How many different forms of ‘media’ are offered?
The audience can engage with doctor who in several different ways. Doctor who was a program put on Tv several years ago, so some of the older generation may be reminded of there childhood, and have a connection already made, drawing there attraction to the program. But Doctor who is also an idea that is slightly unique. We see other sci-fi programs such Start-Trek, but they do not connect to the british audience in the same way, as some of Doctor Who is set in London, allowing the audience to familiarise with the location, attracting them to the Tv show.
Doctor Who has many different ways of attracting its existing audience and newcomers even further into the show. It does this through its use of other media. Looking at the website, it has a main menu bar of; Home, episodes, characters, games, create and archive. Already becoming attractive enough, it excels its website with other links on its home page, with links to extra videos and many other features.
Convergence – Hardware and software converging together across the media, and companies coming together across similar circumstances. Making the distinction between different types of media and other media industries become more diffident.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Surveys and Reults! - Thriller research
The difference between the two:
The first survey i completed and published on the internet, allowing people to access the survey through there computer. However, the questions asked where not relevant enough, to research for OUR product.
The second survey was printed off and handed out. There are only 5 questions, as i just wanted to support my groups ideas for the present and the future. The questions asked relate to conventions of thrillers, so overall, using the publics honest opinions, we can now create a thriller opening, with a professional looking outcome.
watch this space for the questionnaires, very soon!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Case Studies - Half Light - Audiences
Half light is a Drama, Mystery, Thriller, attracting thriller lovers in a beat. But its location and main character have added a new attraction to the film. Its location filmed in Cornwall, but known as Scotland in the film, has a particular spooky attraction to it, if well thought out. But the main character is what struck me the most. A strong and successful independent woman, and an assumed single woman. An interesting technique, a device you would expect to build you up for a highly dramatic event – most likely anyway. Watching the opening of this film, it is very easy to believe you have put the wrong disc in the DVD player, but the bright colours, happiness and atmosphere of the opening 5 minutes mixes nicely with the strength of the woman. This led me to be suspicious about what I had in store, but at the same time it pulled me in, leaving me wanting more! Overall the dramatic side of it has appealed to another audience all together.
User Reviews – IMDB
This movie is good, well acted, well scripted, well directed, and above all, it will keep you guessing to the end, I do not know enough about "The Technical Side" of movie making to comment, all i know is, if i see a film i like, or for that matter dislike, then i will make a comment on it, after all its only entertainment. Too many times you read about the, ins and outs of film making, and all the back stage stuff, when really all you want to know is, will i enjoy this film, and the answer to Half Light is yes, no swearing, very little sex content,just a nice put together thriller, enough twists and turns to keep the momentum going. i am trying to find something to moan about in this movie, and to be quite honest there is nothing, Demi Moore is very good in the lead role, and the mainly British cast is excellent Go see it, judge for yourself, i do not think you will be disappointed.
Beyond Hollywood -
Although billed as a thriller, “Half Light” is very much a supernatural ghost movie. It’s not “horror” in the genre sense, although there are ghosts and thrills aplenty. Written and directed by Aussie Craig Rosenberg (“After the Sunset”), there is a very noticeable European sensibility to the film’s pacing. Another oddity is that whenever ghosts aren’t involved, Rosenberg directs like he’s making a traveling brochure for Scotland’s Tourism Board. Which might not be such a bad idea if Scotland was ever in need of some good P.R., because the “Scotland” shown here (in actuality the LLandwyn Island of Isle of Anglesey in Wales), with its wide open beaches and tall grass bristling in the cool evening wind, is simply gorgeous to behold.
The beautiful scenery also makes for a stark contrast against the supernatural elements of the film. The cabin by the beach becomes the hub of ghost activity, as what seems like the spirit of Rachel’s dead son returns to haunt mom with a vengeance. And while Angus seems like a savior, he, too, turns out to be more than what he seems, making Rachel’s already fragile circumstance even less tenable. What’s a broken hearted novelist, already suffering from terrible guilt, to do when the one rock she thought she could lean on suddenly turns into mist?
“Half Light” doesn’t terrify as much as it creeps you out, especially the early scenes with Rachel’s dead son. Here, Rosenberg methodically introduces the film’s supernatural element a bit at a time, never offering up too much. It’s a tease, but an effective one. Rosenberg’s choice regarding the aesthetics of the Scottish locale makes the fear all the more intense when the scene shifts from the pleasant countryside to Rachel’s lonely and constricted cabin, or the towering, skeletal lighthouse nearby.
Of course the film is far from perfect. For one, an intelligent woman like Rachel seems a bit clueless as to the right course of action to take, even if she is currently locked in a haze of grief and mental confusion. Despite suffering from one ghostly encounter after another at the cabin, she continues to remain there, defying all logic and common sense. Later, when warned that if she should return to the cabin she will surely die, Rachel decides to return for her things anyway. The film also has a plot twist in its last act that threatens to torpedo most of what’s come before, not to mention lowering the scare factor tremendously. As well, the twist relies on a plot contrivance involving an elusive photo that is a little hard to swallow, especially in this day and age.
5 Star Reviews
Moviesyahoo – 3.5 Stars Time out (user reviews) – 5stars
Flixters – 3 Stars View London – 3 stars