AS Media Foundation Portfolio

Question 1 - On a scale of one to five, how would you rate the quality of acting?

We asked 20 members of our target how they would rate the quality of acting in our thriller. We felt this was important as good acting is what many members of our target audience look for in a thriller. 8 people chose '3' and 8 people chose '4' which tells us that the majority of people in our target audience thought that the acting in our thriller was good; this tells us that we choose the right actors for our thriller.

Question 2 - On a scale of one to five, how effective do you think the location was?

We thought that it was important for us to ask our target audience whether or not they thought we had chosen an effective location for our thriller, as the location is a significant part of the film. Therefore it was important to us that we chose the right location. 7 people chose '3', which we felt meant that our location was reasonably effective, particularly as the majority of people chose '3' or higher to answer this question.

Question 3 - On a scale of one to five, how well do you think tension was built?

Tension is an important part of any thriller, so we decided to involve a question about tension when gaining audience feedback. 9 people chose '3' to answer this question, and the majority of people chose '3' or higher. This tells us that we successfully managed to build tension within our thriller opening.

Question 4 - On a scale of one to five, how effective do you think the music was?

The music, or non-diegetic soundtrack, used in a thriller film is very important as it creates tension and the right atmosphere for the audience. We decided to include this question in our audience feedback questionnaire to learn if our target audience felt that our choice of music was as effective as we thought it was. As 10 people chose '3' and a further 9 people chose either '4' or '5' to answer this question, we felt that we had made the right choice in music for our thriller.

Question 5 - On a scale of one to five, how engaged in the storyline were you?

In the thriller genre it is vital that your target audience is engaged in the narrative of the film, so we chose to include this question. The majority of people (8) chose '3' to answer this question, but the rest of the feedback is spread evenly between '1' & '2' and '4' & '5'. This shows us that we could have perhaps made our narrative more engaging in some way, but that we still succeeded in this aspect.

Question 6 - On a scale of one to five, how professional was the editing?

How professional the editing of our thriller was is obviously an important aspect of the opening sequence we created. 8 people chose '4' as their answer to this question, which to us means that we managed to edit our thriller sequence effectively and that we achieved a reasonably professional look to our thriller.

Question 7 - On a scale of one to five, how good was the continuity of the clip?

The continuity of our sequence is something that we struggled with at times, so it was important for us to find out whether our target audience felt that the continuity of our film was good or not. Although 8 people chose '3' as their answer to this question, showing that the continuity of our film was reasonably good, again the rest of the feedback is spread equally between '1' & '2' and '4' & '5' which suggests that the continuity could have been better.

Question 8 - On a scale of one to five, how effective were the title graphics?

We thought that the title graphics of our thriller were an important part of our thriller and we wanted to ensure these were as effective as possible, therefore choosing to include a question about the graphics in our feedback questionnaire. The response was positive, as 9 people chose '3' as their answer to this, and a further 9 people chose either '4' or '5' as their answer. This shows us that the graphics we chose were effective.

Question 9 - On a scale of one to five, how effective was the lighting?

The lighting is another important factor in creating thrillers. We tried to use the lighting to the greatest effect during the creation of our thriller opening, so we chose to include this in our audience feedback questionnaire. 7 people chose '3' and 7 people chose '4' as their answers to this question, which is very positive feedback telling us that our lighting choices were effective.

Question 10 - On a scale of one to five, how diverse were the camera shots?

We felt that we tried to use a range of camera shots when filming and editing our thriller, as a diverse range is more effective. We therefore wanted to know whether or not our target audience felt the same way as we did. As 8 people who filled in our questionnaire answered '4' to this question, we felt that this meant that our target audience thought that we had used a diverse range of camera shots in our thriller.

Question 11 - On a scale of one to five, how well was the convention of Partial Vision portrayed?

Partial Vision is one of the most important conventions of the thriller genre that we wanted to include in our opening sequence, as it is very important for our narrative. Judging by the feedback we received, which was that 8 people chose '3' as their answer and 6 people chose '4', we felt that we had managed to portray the convention of Partial Vision effectively.

Question 12 - On a scale of one to five, how well was the convention of Mazes and Labyrinths portrayed?

Another important convention that we wanted to include within our thriller was the Mazes and Labyrinths convention. We felt that this would fit in with our narrative of our thriller. 7 people chose '3' as their answer to this question and 7 people chose '4' which tells us that we succeeded in using the Mazes and Labyrinths convention to good effect.

Question 13 - On a scale of one to five, how well did the clip build a sense of suspense?

Suspense is an important part of any thriller, so we included this question in our audience feedback questionnaire. 8 people answered '3' to this question, which tells us that we managed to create suspense throughout our thriller, obviously making it a better opening.

Question 14 - On a scale of one to five, how well did you understand the narrative?

Another important factor in knowing if our opening is a good example of the opening of a thriller is whether or not our target audience understood the narrative of our thriller. However, as 7 people answered '2' to this question, this implies that our narrative was not very clear. The majority of people chose higher than '2', but our feedback implies that we could have made the narrative of our film clearer in creating it.

Question 15 - On a scale of one to five, how well did you relate to the characters on screen?

That the audience are able to relate to the characters on screen when watching a thriller is very important, so we understood that we needed to try to make the characters as relatable as possible when creating our thriller. As 8 people chose '3' as their answer to this question and the majority chose '3' or higher, this shows us that our characters were relatable.

Shooting Script

1. A black screen, can hear both heavy footsteps and heavy breathing; conveys a sense of panic.
2. Fades into shot, low angled camera, man runs towards and past the camera, continues diegetic sound of footsteps and breathing, fast paced music begins.
3. Cuts to wide shot of him running (tracks from behind).
4. Close up of his feet running; implies speed.
5. Close up of his face, panicked/concerned expression.
6. Mid tracking shot as he runs, see him from the side.
7. Camera cuts to a shot of a young girl in a room, high angled and took from the top right corner of the room, no sound, and black and white; in order to imitate CCTV footage.
8. Camera cuts to the shots of a man running, tracking shot from the side shows him running past buildings (transformed city), non-diegetic sound returns.
9. Full length shot of him running towards the camera head on, tracking out.
10. Cuts to a point of view shot of him running.
11. Establishing shot of the high-rise building at a low angle shot, to elongate it further and convey importance.
12. Running up towards the building, from behind.
13. Cut to him reaching for the handle.
14. Matching action, opening the door.
15. A cut to the same CCTV footage style shot of the girl banging on the door of the room she is held hostage in, again no sound.
16. Girl looks straight up at high angled camera.
17. Mid shot, slightly low, of him entering the building. All previous shots (apart from shots of the girl) have been external shots, they are now internal.
18. Pans across to him running to the foot of the stairs.
19. High angle of him running up the stairs.
20. Low angle, tracking shot of him running from behind.
21. CU of his face, looking side to side, displays confusion.
22. Point of view shot, camera pans from side to side.
23. Walks into shot.
24. CU of him walking to the door.
25. High angled shot of a girl in room, see her banging on the door, no sound.
26. Point of view shot, girl’s view of the door (inside the room).
27. Mid shot of him walking towards the door (outside the room).
28. Mid shot of her trying to open the door (inside the room).
29. Close up of his hands on the door (outside of the room).
30. Close up of her face.
31. Point of view shot as he opens the door.
32. Close up of his face, see confusion.
33. Point of view shot of the empty room (apart from table, timer and note).
34. Medium-wide shot from behind table of him walking towards table.
35. Close up of him picking up the note and unfolding it.
36. Close up of the shocked expression on his face, he turns.
37. Mid shot of him from behind as he drops the note and runs out of the room.
38. High angled shot of note falling, sees writing on note (slow motion), tracks out and becomes CCTV footage.
39. Camera tracks out to see screen showing the empty room. Can see a man’s shoulder, appears to be watching the screen.
40. Fades to black screen, see title of film ‘Justice’.