Evaluative Report.

Evaluative Report.

Me and my group were given the task making a 3 minute thriller mini film. We were then asked to pick a sub-genre for the thriller and we decided to do a psychological thriller. We then decided what roles we would be given within the group and my group and I decided that I would do the editing because I had the most experience with it. We had set dates to complete each task by.

We all had to do research on our given roles. I research all the editing techniques that are used when making a psychological thriller. I found out that a lot of montages are involved and that the filters used for the filming are usually dark to add suspense and help to re-enforce the thriller conventions. I looked into the conventions and iconography of the genre and sub-genre to help us get a better understanding and knowledge of it. This helps to attract the correct target audience for our film. This is because the audience will look for these conventions within the film to attract them to watching it. Watching the opening to the film 'Memento' i saw some interesting ways to challenge some conventions of the psychological thriller but still include some strong conventions to the genre. Some of the iconography that i found was similar to most thriller iconography such as, Shadows, Confined places and weaponry. This help my group and I to get a better understanding of what to include in the film to help strengthen  the conventions of the genre.

We used the internet to research on what is included with psychological thrillers. I found out about the conventions and iconography of the genre as well as different editing techniques involved with the editing and final cut of different films. We also used own experience which we learnt in lesson and from our own knowledge to figure out the different features and functions of the sub-genre to help improve the ideas for the film. We drew our own storyboards to help us come up with individual ideas. We then compared and contrasted our different ideas to make our film have the correct conventions and iconography to match a psychological thriller but we also managed to include ideas so that we could also challenge them. In the end, we added different elements from our storyboards together but to stick with the story of one of them so that we didn't have to re-write another whole storyboard and waste filming and editing time.

The genre of our chose will have a target audience of 15+, this is because of the psychological element about the film and that young teens and children will not understand. I believe that my chose of target audience is good because if the audience doesn't understand the genre and purpose of the film then there is no point in watching it and it makes the film irrelevant. I also asked people of my own age group what their favorite elements of the genre our. Most of them said, "My favorite element of a psychological thriller is the plot twist that normally happens within any good psychological thriller." This helped me to plan what type of ideas i would use within the film to help make the audience happy and at least satisfied with the film. Others also said. "I enjoy the mystery that is unfolded throughout a psychological thriller." This helped me to create ideas about involving a hidden mystery that the audience will be wishing to find out so that they stay focused and intrigued on the film.  "

The film will involve challenged and original conventions of a psychological thrillers such as the plot twist and the reality vs. illusion convention. This will cause the film to be more interesting and gripping on the audience which will help to attract the target audience we are looking for. The feedback from the people I asked and the research that i carried out helped me to come up with some ideas on how the conventions can be challenged but stay relevant to the genre that i have chosen.

Our final storyboard has both its strengths and weaknesses. I believe that we have stuck to the conventions of the genre well and managed to challenge them at the same time. We also managed the timing of the film so that when it is finished it shall meet the 3 minute task. But, we could of spend more time planning and constructing ideas about the film at the start instead of just sticking to one idea and then trying developing them later on as we film our movie.

Word count- 779

- Nathan Hardwick