'Solo' Thriller Feedback

These videos below give our group an idea of what the audience thought of our thriller.
 We find out the audiences views on:

1.  What they thought of our overall thriller 'Solo'
2.  What our strengths were in the title sequence
3.  How we could have improved our thriller 

This feedback has consequently given our group some pointers to think about for our next media project in the following academic year as well as receiving general feedback and differing opinions on our work of our conspiracy and techno thriller 'Solo'.

Evaluation Task 7: Preliminary Task vs. Thriller

Since completing our groups thriller, looking back on our preliminary task is quite beneficial as it offers a chance to see how we progressed with our media skills of camera work and editing.

After watching the preliminary task again it is obvious that the camera work is not entirely perfect.
One of the mistakes in our camera work is evident as we were filming from a low viewpoint, one of the actors constantly covered the other actor's face whilst they were speaking therefore for some viewers the dialogue could have been unclear.

One good point derived from our camera work was that we achieved a match on action shot as our final shot, creating a climax to the end of our preliminary task which was quite impressive for our first task filming in media.



However, in our thriller we advanced our filming techniques hugely by introducing the viewers to the setting with a slow tracking shot. We had never attempted this before and within a few shots we have achieved our desired tracking shot. We also incorporated a slider shot, over the shoulder shots and close up shots filmed from varying viewpoints.



The editing was much more complex in our thriller as we used a lot of after effects editing in which we explored the cracking of the code and numerous shots that would have been displayed on the computer monitor that the boy is controlling.

The mise-en-scene of our preliminary task was incredibly minimal as we filmed the short sequence in the studio with already installed wallpapers, flooring and shutters. Therefore, we only needed to adjust the lighting to give an atmospheric feel to the set and we were ready to film.

 However, our thriller presented a whole new level of preparing props and setting to our group. In advance we planned our selection of props only to change the set at the last minute. A week before the shoot day for our thriller we decided to shoot the thriller in the media department as we thought it would be more effective to focus on the equipment and gadgets the boy is handling rather than decorate the set with props in order to resemble a boy's bedroom, which may have distracted the audience from the actual purpose of the thriller which was to associate the viewers with the boy's activities of cracking codes and using technology. We used laptops, ipads, computers, keyboards, rubix cubes, papers, aeroplane posters and airfix models in order for the section of the room we were using to look like the boy's technical hideout.

The editing in our preliminary task was very simplistic as we were just getting to understand the programme Final Cut Pro. One of the mistakes in our editing is that our group attempted to cut from one shot to another with the actors in different positions. For example in the first shot the girl in the middle of the set is looking down at the actor on the floor and in the next shot her head is fully turned to the other actor, behind her, closing the door.

Also the first picture below displays the other mishap that happened in our preliminary task which was that one of the actors frequently looked at the camera which was a mistake and did not happen in our thriller.



We also made another mistake whilst editing as we cut these two shots and put them together but on second viewing they don't play in a fluid way as the actor in the foreground has turned her head to the other actor in the background, responding to her, but in the next shot her head is positioned in a different way, facing forwards.

Whereas, in my group's thriller we were very particular about cutting our shots at the right moment in order for the shots to play in a fluent way. The fact that we did not prepare a script for our thriller, as we did not want any dialogue in the video, made the editing of shots much easier as we did not have to match up shots considering the dialogue of the characters in the video. Instead, we cut together shots that did not necessarily interlink with each other. The main aim of our thriller was to communicate the boy's activity of hacking websites and cracking codes to the viewers of the thriller.

The sound in our preliminary task is not very impressive as the shots that we cut together do not match the sound in parts. For example when one of the actors looks towards the other actor saying 'I can't' when in the next shot the girl is saying this again yet the audio does not quite match up with the picture in the shots shown below:



Whereas in our thriller we did not write a script as there was only one character in the scene therefore no dialogue was needed and we didn't want to break the desired tense atmosphere building up through out the thriller. The only sound we use in our thriller is the techno backing music matches and reinforces the technical theme displayed in the video. This creates suspense as well as drives the thriller on which are typical and desired aspects of any thriller. Whereas in our preliminary task we did not use any music at all as this was the first basic task we completed therefore our thriller is much more professional and effective looking.  

Compared to our preliminary task our group worked in a much more efficient manner with the added knowledge of how to film effective shots and ultimately how to control the camera. Since we planned to do a tracking shot our group had to work altogether and communicate with each other clearly in order to achieve an effective and perfect tracking shot which was one of the most challenging aspects of the day. We all swapped round roles in order to experience directing, being the cameraman and continuity. We did this in the preliminary task also but in our thriller we did this more frequently. In our preliminary task we had to ask for much more help when filming and working the camera, however, in the thriller we were much more independent with our shooting, carrying it out in an efficient manner. Overall, the thriller was much more successful than the preliminary task due to our past experience and efficiency.

You are able to see the differences in our thriller 'SOLO' below:

Evaluation Task 6

Below is my groups thriller 'Solo' with added annotations as to what technology we used to create it.

Evaluation Task 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation Task 4: Thriller Target Audience

Our thriller will have a wide ranging target audience. Our primary audience would be males who are 18-40 years old, whilst our secondary audience would be females from 18-40 years old. The reason for this being that males would be primarily attracted to the genre of the film and the aspects of technology and possible action portrayed in the thriller. Whereas females are more likely to be attracted by the good looking lead actor since the genre would not instantly attract the typical female, therefore, they would be more likely to see the thriller on DVD or the most common reason for going to the cinema to see the thriller would be because of their boyfriend/husband wanting to see the film. The fact that the thriller involves the widely renowned crisis of the 911 in America this would therefore appeal to the older audience as they would remember the shocking worldwide reactions of the event and therefore this may appeal to the older audience. But, the younger audience would also be enticed by the thriller as there is a lot of use of technology and code breaking therefore young boys would be interested in the plot. There may be swearing and bad language therefore the film would be based on an 18+ audience. The older audience would also be interested in current affairs and as the film is based on a true story of Gary McKinnon, the Scottish hacker of NASA computers, this would appeal to their taste.

The older generation of our target audience would enjoy activities such as following current affairs and reading newspapers whilst the younger generation would perhaps spend their time on video games, computers and phones.

Our film is aimed more at males rather than females as it may include violence and is primarily action based once the kid breaks into the FBI mainframe. However, it may appeal to women aswell as the lead role may be quite attractive.

	Votes	Average
Males	25313	5.9
Females	2944	6.1
Aged under 18	96	6.6
Males under 18	81	6.7
Females under 18	15	6.1
Aged 18-29	11819	6.0
Males Aged 18-29	10543	6.0
Females Aged 18-29	1276	6.2
Aged 30-44	13058	5.7
Males Aged 30-44	11890	5.7
Females Aged 30-44	1168	6.0
Aged 45+	3061	6.2
Males Aged 45+	2655	6.2
Females Aged 45+	406	6.1
IMDb staff	5	6.6
Top 1000 voters	588	5.5
US users	7383	5.8
Non-US users	20874	5.9
IMDb users	37587	5.9

Other films that deal with similar types of issues that are incorporated in our thriller 'SOLO' are:

Mercury Rising 

'Mercury Rising' involves Bruce Willis is an outcast FBI agent who is assigned to protect a 9 year old autistic boy who is the target for assassins after cracking a top secret government code.The rating of the film is a 15.

War Games

'War Games' involves a young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III. The rating of the film is a 16.

 

Meet Ryan Wagner... 

 

 

  

Ryan is a gamer/geek. He is a 22 year old student who is currently completing his degree in ICT at the University of Iowa. He is a member of the audience who would be very interested in seeing 'SOLO', our groups thriller about an internet hacking scandal. His hobbies are playing on his xBox and PSP. His favourite games are Black Ops and World of Warcraft. He is a hardcore fan of Skrillex and has his own gaming playlist to listen to whilst on the xBox: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3F5EE9BC8C29E7A7

 

He is into fictional films as well as action, thriller and horror films which include violence and destruction for example Transformers as well as Star Wars and The Matrix. But he is also into conspiracy thrillers which make you think about the plot hours after watching the film such as Inception, The Conversation, Night Moves, The Domino Principle, The Package, No Way Out, Absolute and Enemy of the State. He watches The X Files on TV also. When Wayne is not studying he mostly just sits in his room on his Mac computer gaming, social networking or messaging his friends.

The thriller 'SOLO' would definitely attract more of a male audience rather than female as the plot involves an autistic teenaged boy breaking codes and unexpectedly entering the FBI mainframe which he explores and hacks. The film is based on the story of Gary McKinnon hacking into the FBI headquarters and the consequences of possible extradition he had to face. Therefore the movie has a chance of involving action and violence as well as technological sights of computers and gadgets. Therefore, the film may appeal more to males than females. Just as the genre of a thriller would most likely and stereotypically attract more males than females.

 

 

 



Evaluation Task 3: 'Solo' Production and Distribution

Our thriller 'SOLO' would benefit from pitching to UK producers 'Warp Films' because this credited production company creates pioneering British cinema, short films and music videos such as Shane Meadows' 'This Is England' which became a success after recognition of good film reviews. 'SOLO' will go on to be distributed by 'Optimum Releasing' and also by 'Magnolia Pictures' in the USA which will have a limited release in art-houses and small cinemas. 'Warp Films' would be interested in 'SOLO' as they primarily specialise in innovative, low-budget films, which 'SOLO' is.

 

A film that is in a similar vein to 'SOLO' which has been produced by 'Warp Films' is 'Dog Altogether' which consequentially involves a significant amount of violence and depression, therefore being a dark film. Warp work closely with Film 4 co-producing films as well as finding distribution through optimum releasing. A good way for them to offset the costs of production would be to work in partnership with Film 4 on our film, therefore if it proved to be a word of mouth success Film 4 could premier the film on their tv channel and raise costs to offset the production through increased revenue from advertising during the advert breaks. Also as 'Magnolia Pictures' specialises in foreign and independent films this means that they will be attracted to the film 'SOLO' as it will be based and produced in the UK. Magnolia also has a genre films label named 'Magnet Releasing' which mainly distributes foreign action films. Films distributed by Magnolia typically appear on the cable television channel HDNet Movies during their first week of release. 

 

 

'Magnolia Pictures' have distributed many varying genres of films and pride themselves on having the power to attract wide audiences of different age and target groups. However, 'Optimum Releasing' distributed the film 'The Hurt Locker' and the target audience was the hard-to-reach demographic of 25 to 44-year-old males, and the film faced strong competition from arthouse and mainstream films in the first two weeks of release. In addition, the campaign had to balance the film's core strength as an action-packed thriller, while maintaining its art-house credibility. Our thriller 'SOLO' is also aimed at males around the same age group of 15-40 year olds as it is of the thriller genre and may also include shots of action. Therefore the thriller film 'SOLO' is well suited and a perfect pitch for the producers and distributors of 'Warp Films', 'Optimum Releasing' and 'Magnolia Pictures'. 

Evaluation Task 2: Social Group Representation in 'SOLO'

Panopticon Building Theory

In our thriller 'SOLO' we have represented different social groups of disability and gender in a variety of ways as well as surveillance of society.
The majority of the powerful figures of society, owning the most successful businesses, are often men such as the famous figures of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google, owning billion dollar companies. They are able to gather information on the popluation, sifting through personal files and documents and ultimately able to invade citizens privacy, unbeknownst to the users of the companies. This recalls the theory of the Panopticon building designed by the philsopher and social theorist, Jeremy Bentham, in the late 18th century in order to allow a watchmen to observe inmates of an institution without them knowing whether they are being watched.


On the other hand, the film industry depicts many vulnerable men in leading roles, contrasting to the powerful masculine roles of society and action films. For example, 'Forrest Gump' portrays Tom Hanks as a character with a learning difficulty, ultimately an idiot savant managing to invent products and companies, breaking records and becoming a war hero and a symbol of the anti-war movement.
Another example of the vulnerability of men in films is Dustin Hoffman in 'Rainman' as he is portrayed to possess a learning difficulty and is therefore an autistic savant.
Other examples of vulnerable masculine roles in renowned films include Sean Penn in 'I Am Sam' and the character of Lenny in 'Of Mice and Men'

As our thriller involves a teenage autistic boy accidentally hacking into the FBI mainframe this therefore represents the male gender in a negative way. As the boy also writes up a statement on the FBI website once he has hacked into it saying, '"US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year … I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels … " which is a direct quote from Gary McKinnon's hacking of the United States military and NASA computers and therefore reinforces the negative representation of disability and gender as the autistic boy unnecessarily and purposely disrupts the workings of the organisation once he has trespassed confidential territory without permission.
The whole incident happened as a result of the boys autism and his interest and ability to break codes which are displayed to him, just as the code for the FBI mainframe was displayed to him on his own computer. The fact that he is autistic presents the ability to comprehend and manipulate advanced technology. The fact that he is a male does not help to promote a positive representation for the gender as typically males are seen as more adventurous and daring in their choices.

Our thriller links with various other media such as films, news and literature.
Firstly, our thriller is based on the incident of Gary McKinnon hacking into US military and NASA computers under the name of 'Solo' and therefore facing court trials and possible extradition from the country. Our thriller also links to the films 'Mercury Rising' and 'War Games'.
'Mercury Rising' stars Bruce Willis as an outcast FBI agent who is assigned to protect a 9 year old autistic boy who is the target for assassins after cracking a top secret government code. Whilst 'War Games' is about a young man finding a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III. Both films include the use of technology and gaining access to top secret servers. 'Mercury Rising' also includes the detail of an autistic boy cracking codes to reveal top secret information through the use of technology.

Our thriller also relates to the book 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'. The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a mathematically gifted boy of fifteen with Asperger's syndrome. Therefore involving the aspect of disability at a young boy's age and seen in a negative way by all other characters in the book for a period of time.

Evaluation Task 1 continued

 

    

Left: 'Solo'
Right: 'Pi'
These screen grabs show the similarities between my groups thriller 'SOLO' and the already existing thriller 'Pi' which therefore demonstrates how our thriller uses, develops and challenges the typical conventions of thrillers.