Evaluation - (completed by Rizwana Jawid)

Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The media product that we created, Justified Revenge, consists of forms and conventions that real media products would have. As we focused on thriller movies to base our sequence on, we learnt about the different conventions thriller movies consisted off

After looking at a number of films such as ‘Disturbia’, and ‘See no evil’, we were able to come up with an idea for our two minute sequence. The film ‘Disturbia’ is based on an individual having a mixed identity, similarly the main character in our two minute sequence is also seen to have a mixed identity as he is seen as a religious figure with strong beliefs, but his community is seen to be fooled by his outer innocence as he is actually a kidnapper seen to kidnap young girls, who have sinned in his eyes. In addition to this, the film ‘See no evil’ is based on kidnapping by a serial killer that collects the eyes of his victims.

Our two minute sequence is also based on kidnappings; however the main character who is the kidnapper is someone with a hidden identity. These two films mainly influenced the idea of our two minutes sequence as we tried to keep our audience interested by having the main character who had a mixed identity.

Our final media product does support a typical thriller film as there is a build up of tension before the audience actually see what is going on. It also supports the forms and conventions as there would be a sense of cruelty in thriller films. This helps the audience to stay interested as they would want to know what is going to happen next. The storyline for our film would most probably fall under the psychological/crime themes of thriller. We thought that it would fit under the psychological theme as the sequence has emphasis over the character more than the plot itself. We also thought that it may fit into the crime theme as the sequence focuses more on the criminal rather than the mystery solvers.

Question 2 – How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Justified Revenge is based on the male being shown as the dominant and superior figure whereas the female is shown as weak and passive. This goes with the stereotype of males and females in society as males are aggressive, strong and are always shown as the leaders, and females are weak, emotional and are likely to be the followers who have no say in what is going on.

The characters in the two minute opening sequence are shown as middle classed individuals through the way they are dressed. As the main character is shown as a religious figure, he is dressed in a suit. This represents the main character as someone who has pride and may possibly be egotistic.

The victim in the film is casually dressed, as a teenager would be; this also has emphasis on the fact that she is weak. The way in which the characters are represented in the film is an important aspect in order for the audience to be able to relate and have an understanding of how the characters respond to situations and their behaviour towards one another. The victim, a teenager is represented as a defenceless individual who has done something wrong to get herself into the situation that she is in.




This is a typical stereotype of a teenager who has yet to learn through the mistakes that they make.

In the opening sequence of the thriller film, Justified Revenge, the teenager is shown being tied up in the boot, leaving the enigma to be solved by the audience as to what she may have done to get herself into that position. The audience would be able to relate to this as the film is aimed at those around the same age as the characters. Teenagers would be able to relate to this as they would thing that there’s a consequence linked to mistakes that they make.

Question 3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Justified Revenge could be an art house film as it has a main target group that it may appeal to. It is aimed at a particular age group of those who are roughly aged between 15 and 40. This is because they would most likely be able to understand the characters points of view. The film we created would be seen as something different than the usual thriller films, therefore the audience would expect to see a different storyline from the common ones. As a result, this would be an advantage as the audience would be more interested in seeing and finding out what the film is about. Justified Revenge could be an internet release as it has a storyline that is set out to keep the audience engaged and also is similar to other films in a sense that it consists of enigma, each scene leading to another as it builds up tension.

Within our two minute sequence we used a variety of shots to emphasise suspense. The result of this was that it would keep the audience interested in finding out what was going to happen next. In the first 10 seconds of our two minute sequence we see the main character walk out of his house holding his mobile phone, keys and a bible. This immediately tells the audience that he is a man of strong belief. As he walks out of his house, he walks to the end of the drive and looks up and down his road before getting into the car. This makes the audience think about why he is looking up and down the driveway. Is he looking for someone? Is he looking to see whether someone is looking at him? Could he have something to hide? Why he looks up and down the driveway?




We also used a number of extreme close ups, close ups and mid close up shots to show the characters expressions. In the boot scenes of our two minute sequence we used a number of close ups and extreme close ups to show the victims expressions as terrified and shocked we also showed the main characters eyes whilst talking on the phone. This created enigma and made the audience think about what might happen.





Question 4 – What would be the audience for your media product?

As mentioned briefly previously, the target audience for our film is 15+. We chose this age because the target group that our first questionnaire was handed out to said that the sequence most likely fitted into the 15+ audience. The film, Justified Revenge consists of stereotypes for both genders, male and female therefore it is not set out to target one specific gender more than the other. Similarly it is set out to target teenagers as well as adults as they will be able to engage in the storyline.

Question 5 – How did you attract/address your audience?
A Justified Revenge being a cross genre, psychological/crime thriller will itself attract the target audience. Our thriller uses a sense of corrupt authority and violence, this is shown in the scenes where the victim is shown tied up in the boot. The music we used in the two minute sequence helps the audience see how the main character is represented. The use of the different shots also helps to create tension and build up suspense which keeps the audience guessing. This is something the audience would expect to see in a good thriller movie.


Question 6 – What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Throughout the process of directing I learnt a number of things. One of the things I learnt was that planning before hand was necessary in order to work efficiently and successfully. Another thing that I learnt was that it was important to get all the scenes in all the possible shot types so that when editing, the editor would be able to look though all the different shot types and use which ever shot fitted correctly to create tension and enigma. As a director I also felt that it was important to make sure that the camera person knew which shots were required for the sequence and how the shots were planned to be taken. For this to be done almost perfectly, the storyboard was a source of help as it assisted me on knowing which shots would fit in.

The way in which the final product consisted of a variety of shots having an emphasis on the action showed to have worked accordingly. However we came across a number of difficulties during the whole process of filming. Due to this we filmed twice to make sure we had all the required shots. When we filmed for the first time, the shot types that we filmed were long shots, mid close ups and close ups. As well as this, continuity had been broken. This refers to the in car scenes due to this we filmed for a second time, this time making sure that the shots we took consisted of close ups and extreme close ups as well as long shots and mid shots showing the surroundings and the atmosphere. The aim of filming more extreme close up shots and close ups was that it would help create fear and tension keeping the audience interested. In addition to this it would help create enigma. One of the most difficult part s of the process was making sure that each of the scenes had a match on action and making sure that the continuity was accurate. After having problems with this a few times, we gradually over came this.

Question 7 – Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Before the actual filming of our two minute sequence took place, we went through a vast number of stages in the planning process. One of the planning processes that helped us with understanding the sequence and putting together the shots that we planned to take was done through creating a storyboard. This helped us see which shots would work with particular scenes and which shots we would have to change in the actual filming process. We also created a script which played a role in the filming of the two minute sequence. This helped us as a group to take into account everything that was actually going to happen in the opening sequence. These two elements of the production process as well as others helped us have a clear understanding of what we would end up with at the end of the task.

Looking back to the starting of the whole production coursework to when we started filming our preliminary task, I think that we improved the ways on which we filmed and making sure we got the scenes correct. Continuity was one of the factors that we had problems with. However as we progressed we learnt to be more aware of match on action. Whilst filming our preliminary task we also tended to use panning shots which did not turn out how we thought it would. To overcome this problem we decided to break down the panning shot into a variety of shots. For example, having one of the characters walking from point A to point B was shown using long shots, mid close ups and close ups. We then also used this technique in our main two minutes sequence when showing the main character walking from point A to point B.

Overall I think that we as a group learnt from the mistakes that we made and improved from the beginning to the end. Our thriller film would be successful as it consists of the codes and conventions that are similar to other films that have been successful in the past. There are some things that we could of improved if we spent a little more time on filming and making sure everything was how it was planned to be.