The Red Snow

QUESTION 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since I first edited and filmed the preliminary task I feel that I have gained a vast amount of new knowledge and experience. One feature I believe that I have improved upon is filming. In comparison to my Preliminary task, I feel that my Thriller shows more sophisticated shots and not only better camera angles but also cleaner shots. This has had a large effect on how our thriller will be reviewed and criticised and in luckily, this key problem in the preliminary task was not carried over into the thriller.
The main skill which I have learnt is editing, since the beginning of the course I had some editing knowledge but the majority of the software was new to me and I had little understanding of how to stitch my project together. After the preliminary task I had learnt a lot of the basics for editing, and since then I have refined the skills by repeating the edit and fine tuning every ounce of error that I could see. In my thriller the amount of cross dissolves, dip to blacks and addictive dissolves that I used contrasts well with the lack of dissolves used in my preliminary task. This shows that over the course, I learnt that in order to build suspense I need to make the scenes move faster. In fact, my thriller is half the time of my preliminary task purely because I learnt that my thriller needed to be fast paced.
Another issue was not technical based but instead it was an issue with the group. At many times the clashing opinions would push some people out of the group whilst others would argue the disagreed with the thriller. It seemed impossible to agree. This changed however after we made our first thriller and it was so far from a good grade that we decided to start again. This original failed thriller was in many ways was the the tipping point between not understanding and understanding what is required from my media product. The original thriller lacked a variety of camera angles and this taught us to open our minds to intertextual references and generic conventions that we would need to add into our thriller.
We utilised the snow in early january as a way to start over, we quickly created a story which could create suspense and appeal to our audience. We then filmed every single shot and angle which we knew of. This was key to our thriller because when the snow melted we would need to already have enough shots to complete the thriller. We decided to drag the character of Tiffany through the snow in order to create the suspense we needed for a successful thriller. We learnt a lot from the original thriller, for example costumes became a lot more important in our final thriller because we needed to contrast the dead body with the snow and we could not achieve this effect without including vibrant costumes. We decided to put Tiffany in a red coat so that we could link her to the little girl in "Schindlers list". This intertextual reference was created due to the lack of intertextuality in our first thriller. It seemed that our motives for the second thriller were to do everything that we didn't do in our original thriller. This is what caused us to learn the needed skills in progression from our preliminary product to our final product.

I found out that the use of sound bridges add a lot of effect to the scene and after analysing a few Thrillers I found out that "Once Upon A Time In America" used a phone ringing to create a sound bridge during a murder investigation. We realised that using the sound bridge of Tiffany's phone ringing would add to the importance of the phone call and make the ringing become more and more distressing. I also found my titles with a similar system, I decided that if I was going to use any title at all it would have to already have the font of a successful thriller. I finally decided that the font from the Third Man would be most successful. In comparison to our first thriller or preliminary task which didn't even have titles the Final Thriller Product shows that journey of understanding that we took as a group though out the course.

QUESTION 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

At the beginning of the course I had little knowledge on how to edit and construct a film and the most I'd ever used to edit before was iMovie on my mac when I was very young. Therefore throughout the course of the year I have learnt a lot about the technologies that are vital for the construction of media products. Very quickly I started to pick up on different camera angles and their uses, which led us to create a thriller where suspense and tension played a key part. I learnt that low angle tilts showed the characters as dominant and unpredictable, whereas a birds eye shot would show the characters as being vulnerable or insignificant. This knowledge came in useful when constructing the thriller because it allowed us to add intertextual references and confirm generic stereotypes.

I firstly had to learn how to use a camera, with the assistance of a tripod I gained the knowledge needed to start filming my thriller. Overall the camera work was not the issue due to the information already obtained in class. Instead, the editing software was the hardest obstacle. At first the my lack of understanding limited me to only working on the simple side of things, but after learning more about how to edit I branched out further to all aspects of the edit. I learnt how important titles were and when to place them within the thriller. I also learnt the importance of cross dissolves and creating non-linear narratives in an understandable way. Editing the sound was a key feature to the edit because I had to remove all the sound and then replace each scene with a looped dragging sound in a way for the dragging to fit with each scene but also work well when creating a sound bridge. We captured and edited our film on Premier Elements, this was a new experience for me and I found it at first quite hard to navigate the software. After a while I realised the perks of using premier elements and began to understand the complex system of stitching two shots together, how to cut the shot at the exact millisecond for the maximum suspense to be created.

The blogs, were at first irritating, due to the images being unwilling to move without deleting work I found that the blogs were highly inefficient and stopped me from progressing with my ideas and understanding. After some time however I got my blog up to scratch and found that organising and presenting my ideas on the internet made the work much more enjoyable and efficient.

Youtube, which had never really played a part in my life thus far, suddenly offered a new opportunity for annotating and analysing work, This became useful across the entire board, not just with constructing my thriller but also with researching Tv Drama. I analysed specific scenes and learnt more about the camera angles and intertextual references through this process. For example, we linked the characters of Peter, Blake and Tiffany to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This was effective because we created a modern day version of 3 iconic characters after analysing specific thrillers and genres.

The Internet Movie Data Base became very useful throughout the course because it allowed us to research thrillers and thriller genres at the click of a button. We could find out about the director and link two of his films together to create intertextual references. I also found that the Internet Movie Data Base was very useful for screenshots and plot summaries of films that were unobtainable. For example, from the Internet Movie Data Base I found the thriller "Fargo" and managed to make key intertextual links between the two.

Overall each piece of media technology has had its own effect on my understanding throughout the course, but the most interesting of all has been Premier Elements, which taught me how to use all aspects of my knowledge at once in order to create a final product I could be proud of.

QUESTION 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audience through the characters and plot, we used both female and male characters in order to attract both genders and used the conflict between the Middle class and the Working class. After handing out questionnaires to our target audience it became clear what was most appealing about our thriller. 4 people handed us feedback two girls and two boys. A key feature was that they enjoyed the soundtrack, which is the sound of dragging running through the background of the shots. They explained that this created suspense and made the characters feel not just isolated but also created the idea that they can't escape their crimes. We used two sound bridges in our thriller and both got very positive responses. This showed us that our soundtrack was very attractive to our target audience and made the thriller enjoyable to watch.

We addressed our audience directly by aiming the soundtrack at the target audience, we also based the characters around the audience so that they will find it easier to relate to the characters problems. When handing out questionnaires we realised that the one problem with our thriller was that the non-linear narrative was hard to explain. This showed us that mainstream audiences would not understand or enjoy our thriller because it does not appeal to them. However, in order to reach a larger audience we could alter this aspect of the thriller and make the narrative simpler so that out thriller would appeal to both the target audience and the mainstream audience.
A very strong aspect of our thriller was the use of sound in the background of the opening scenes. We built suspense throughout with the use of sound bridges and this is suspense is a key feature for influencing the target audience. In the shower scene in 'Psycho', the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound creates suspense and tension which grips the audience as they watch Marion Crane fall at the hands of the shower enigma. The violin screeching which is heard throughout makes the scene fast paced and even more violent. This is a key example of how we used sound to grip our audience throughout our thriller.
The final comments gained showed that our target audience would very much enjoy to watch more of our thriller. This showed us that it had successfully addressed the audience and would become successful within that group.

QUESTION 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our audience would be between the ages of 16 and 20 and would enjoy independent films, this is because of our young cast who the audience would relate to and our low budget. Because our thriller 'The Red Snow' is not a mainstream film the target audience will be smaller and harder to advertise for. Our audience will be film lovers and this would allow us to reach them from social networking sites as they try to research new films. Our audience would be mainly middle class due to the main character coming from a very middle class background and because the plot tackles the conflict between the working class and the middle class.

The audience is mainly aimed at 16 to 20 year olds but this does not rule out the older generations who also love independent films. The Australian thriller 'Animal Kingdom' is targeted at young audiences in the same way that our thriller is, but it also reached out to the older audiences through its use of older characters and plot. Due to the lack of older characters it is the plot which interests this older audience.
Because our plot follows three different topics, youth, mental problems and social classes in conflict. This links to the wide audience for "This is England" which has covered some of the same problems. "This is England" is also shown on WARP-FILMS to the same audience which we are appealing to, and the links between both films could influence our target audience to watch our thriller.
Our Thriller is mainly based around the issues of youth. The characters are shown as isolated, irrational and violent. This could link to the current generation who lash out at society as it becomes more desperate. Overall our audience will be young and enjoy independent films, we will reach this audience through the links that our Thriller has with many other popular independent teen films.

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

Our Thriller 'The Red Snow' was intended to work along the same lines as Animal Kingdom, in the sense that it would be targeted at specific audiences and specialist cinemas like Cinema City. Because our thriller is an Independent Film it will be distributed through social networking sites like Facebook, this will allow our media product to spread quickly and cheaply to our target audience which is middle class teens between 16 and 20. YouTube would also work in this way because it would allow the trailers to be easily accessible and would link to online sites where the Thriller is available. Much like YouTube IMDB (internet movie data base) would also show trailers, photos and small story summaries in order to reach our audience. The most important online distributer overall would have to be WARPFILMS, which is specialises in distributing independent films and helping new successful directors. From the WARPFILMS website we notice that the layout is very basic with films listed down the page which may interest the our target audience. Another reason we would distribute through WARPFILMS is their current attention to Snowtown, which is an independent thriller following young teenagers through their deviant actions. This is useful because it links to the plot of our own thriller and 'The Red Snow' could become publicised in the same way.

 Apart from an online based system our thriller would also be distributed to cinemas. As previously stated we would use Cinema City as our main distributer because it rarely distributes mainstream films, but instead advertises to the audience of young middle class teens who enjoy independent films. As mentioned above we intended to distribute our thriller in the same way that Animal Kingdom was distributed. This means that our Thriller would be shown at very few cinemas and would gain its publicity through social networking sites in order to make sure that only the target audience sees the film and that the advertising does not cost much money at all.

Question 2: How does your media represent particular social groups?

Our thriller instantly shows the stereotypical roles within each gender, with the male characters being in control and dominant, whilst the female character Tiffany is the victim of the crimes. This confirms the conventions of gender within thrillers. The majority of all crimes are committed by working class males, so we utilised these groups in order to show a truly represent the crimes currently within the UK. We also used two male characters in order to portray how vulnerable Tiffany is and the danger she put herself into.

We utilised two different social classes when representing crime, we show Blake as being a member of the working class through his costume and actions within the opening. The manual labour Blake is seen doing in the opening links to the idea that he is used to getting his hands dirty and therefore more likely to carry out a murder. This shows the working class from a negative viewpoint and represents them as being deviant criminals.
The other social class we used was the middle class, we did this in order to show the divide between social classes. The reaction to the murder differs between both characters showing the different norms and values of each social group. Blake is seen to be dragging the body of the girl through the snow, which links to the idea that he has no remorse, this is key to his character because it shows that he either had strong motives behind committing the murder or is unfazed by deviant actions. Peter is shown throughout the scene to be sitting in a bathroom distraught. This links to the middle class having the correct values because he feels guilt where Blake does not. We did not add the upper class into this because we were trying to show a true representation of crime currently within the UK. To add to this link to crime we cast the characters as both being Teenagers. This was especially effective because it represents youth crime within the UK and also strongly links to the riots, which caused many social classes to fight back against society. This links well to Peters motives within the thriller because he is a member of the middle class who's actions caused him to sink down to the stereotypical level of the working class.

The stereotypical views of women were the social group we aimed to represent within our thriller. We decided not to challenge the thriller conventions of women but instead to confirm them... This was in order to give the true representation of women within crimes. Our thriller 'The Red Snow' works well due to the devices between social classes and genders. The 3 characters link well to the 'Good The Bad and The Ugly' due to their roles within the thriller. Blake being The Bad due to his lack of remorse, Peter being The Good, because he represent the feelings of the audience and the guilt shown in the bathroom scene shows that he has the same norms and values as the target audience. Tiffany is The Ugly due to her timid nature and the fact that both The Good and The Bad hold all of the power, leaving The Ugly in the shadows.

The costume of each character represents their status within the society... Blake's hoody and track suit links him to being poor and therefore we link his lack of money to his motives and reasons for becoming involved with the crimes. Peter's large coat links him to the fashion of middle class teenagers, this shows us that his connection to Blake is uncommon and that Blake may have been an unwelcome influence within Peters life. We see Peters vulnerability when the camera cuts to a birds eye view of him holding his head in his hands. Tiffany's costume is of a similar style to Peters which could link to the idea that they are connected through a friendship group. Tiffany's costume also links to the fact that she stands out as a victim. Her large red coat links directly to the small girl in "Schindlers list" who is caught and killed by the Nazi's.

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

Our thriller "Red Snow" has been influenced by many media products, it has linked from the camera angles, locations, generic costumes and character types to the soundtrack, plot and Titles. The main links between our thriller and other media products is through the plot, The first of these links is animal Kingdom. In animal Kingdom we see Joshua, sitting in a bathroom trying to isolate himself from the murder which he thinks has just taken place, whilst in the bathroom the camera cuts to extreme close ups of items which belongs to the victim, this shows the audience that he cannot hide from the situation. We utilised this idea of escaping to a confined space in our thriller, only to find something worse in the room, in our thriller. This location was also utilised in order to create tension because the room feels claustrophobic and the shower curtains are creating an enigma within the room. This is very effective because it links to the murder of Marion Crane in Psycho, where a man brutally stabs a woman to death whilst she is in the shower, during the scene the killers face is always in the shadows creating the perfect enigma. This is an effective link because the character of Peter in our thriller is on the other side of the shower curtain, showing that he is the killer and he can't remember who he killed.

Another plot link is with Fargo, a thriller based around a man hiring to men to kidnap his wife only to find the situation turning gruesome and falling out of his control. This links well because the character of Blake links very well to the henchmen because he is shown getting his hands dirty dragging a body, whilst Peter is sitting in a bathroom far from the crime. This is foreshadowing that Peter let the situation get out of control and that he didn't mean for anything to happen to the girl that Blake is dragging along. Another interesting link is with the locations of both of these Thrillers, Fargo and our thriller "Red Snow" are both set in the snow, the snow links to the title because red snow connotes blood being splattered across the usually white snow and the idea that the blood leaves a stain upon the landscape and also across Peters life.

The costumes for our thrillers were based more around social classes than thrillers. We went for fashions which exist in sub cultures which have been stereotyped as being either good or bad natured. For example we gave Blake a black hoody to show that he is trying to be hidden but instead he is clashing with the snow to show his lack of purity. This hoody also gives Blake a rough, poor feel, which could link to the idea that he would do anything to get his hands on money, this links to the character of Jason from essex boys, who's fashion gives the distinct impression that he is poor but trying to conceal the fact. This link could also foreshadow Blake's actions later on within the murder. Tiffany, the murder Victim is wearing a bright orange, which once again clashes with the snow creating the idea that her body will be hard to hide. The orange coat also links to the idea that she is quite happy and was caught off guard. Peter wears a Large black coat and looks middle class, this could link to the idea that he has never had any link to murders before and had to bring Blake into the situation so as to successfully hide the body, the coat also links to Harry Lime from 'The Third Man', who wears a large black coat which does not conceal his appearance at all, this could link to not being prepared to hide from his actions. Another Interesting link is between Blake and Peters lower body, they both wear very similar trousers and shoes and this could show the audience that they are both similar characters and that they are both equally guilty for this crime.

Another intertextual reference with 'The Third Man' and our thriller is the Titles. The same font was utilised from 'The Third Man' in order  to strengthen the idea that the death at the centre of both films may not be all that it seems. This will be an effective link because it will make the audience think twice about Tiffany's death. Another link between the two is the large black coat worn by Harry Lime and Peter from our thriller. This was in order to strengthen the enigma around our character and could link to the idea that Peter may go into hiding.


In our thriller product "The Red Snow" we cut between the exterior and interior shots in order to create an illusion and that reality is being slightly twisted. This could link to the thriller "Fight Club" where the main character is fighting personal demons and consequently is not aware of his secondary persona. This cutting also helps to create suspense throughout the opening. we also used the worms eye shot from 'Once upon a time in America' to put the audience in the position of the character, this is effective because it brings the audience into the film and also helps link to the idea that the character above is in total control of the character we are seeing through. 


Another link between our thriller and "Once Upon a Time in America" is with the sound bridge used other both murder scenes. In "Once Upon a Time in America" a phone is heard ringing throughout a scene, whilst the camera cuts from victim to victim, this links the phone call to the deaths and shows the audience that it must be important. We used the same technique in out thriller to show the desperation of finding Tiffany. This is effective because the sound bridge carries on until he know longer needs to find her. 


Within the titles I used a cross dissolve in order to make certain parts of the white Title turn black, this is in order for the audience to see that throughout the thriller the bloody murder follows the characters. This is also effective because it shows that everything becomes corrupted by the characters. The white titles are almost foreshadowing the idea that the Red Snow is stained with corruption. 

Another link within the titles is the production company name, Torn Curtain was the name of Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 thriller. I used this name because it not only links to the curtains in Psycho which create the enigma but also because The character of Peter nearly tears the curtains down when finding Tiffany's body in his bath. This is a very effective because it foreshadows the events in the bathroom and also links to Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller Psycho.