Feedback on Our Thriller

The average reception of our thriller was positive.  Though the niche audience we targeted was unavailable to show it to, there were many good reactions to it.  All audience members (male and female aged 16-18) understood the concept of our thriller.  The main consensus was that the suspense was tangible, however the acting and props took away from the verisimilitude of the overall sequence.  The flashbacks were the favourite part of it, as well as the ambient sounds.  The acting was the main weak point overall.

Looking back on our preliminary task..

After having completed our thriller, it only makes sense to go back and compare with our first project, our preliminary task ("I can't do it! I just can't!")
                     
The biggest things that stood out to me as improvements were all of the technical and planning aspects.  In our thriller, we were much more committed to readying all our props and costumes, planning out exactly what was to happen and when to film it, and having a much better general knowledge on how to use the camera and editing software.

Our camera work has greatly improved in the sense that we were much more daring and spontaneous in the angles and framing of it.  We used handheld shots, car shots, and changed the filters to being much darker and colder.  We didn't meticulously white balance and set up the tripod each time, as we did in our first film.  This is because we were more experienced and had specific effects in mind when filming.

The mise-en-scene of course, was approached much differently in the prelim than in our thriller.  In the preliminary, we were assigned a classroom and had to get it done in a shorter amount of time, meaning there was no time to worry about what the set looked like.  For Zirgi, we planned it, scouted out the shipping container location, and moved around the paraphernalia inside to create our ideal scenery.  I realize that this made a world of difference to the quality and effect of the film.  There was a much better dynamic between the actors in our thriller, as we placed them strategically for visual appeal and to create interest.  For both, we used a natural set, which I think was effective in making it feel more "real", but obviously the thriller was much more successful in making it exciting, visually appealing and interesting.  This was because we chose signifiers (industrial setting, tarpaulin covering body, remote location) to create suspense and tension, classifying it as a thriller.

Stronger dynamics in the MES

Poor dynamics in the MES

Mise-en-scene

Editing is another area that we greatly improved.  For the prelim, we had just learned how to use the software and were still getting used to it.  We didn't take any risks or try anything even moderately elaborate, due to time constraints as well as lack of skill!  The shots followed the storyboard almost exactly, with only the close-up of the gun as an extra shot.

Our "creative" shot

The frame that I reduced for a better MES

One of our flashbacks

In our thriller, we used the same software (Final Cut Pro) but had a much better idea of how to get the best out of it.  We used after effects to differentiate between the flashback scenes and the present action, making it a black and white wash with slow, stifled frame movement, achieved by speeding up the clip.  I cut some of the actual frames to make a more close-up, as the background did not look adequate in one clip.  Our editing in the thriller had much better pace than in the prelim.  This is because we realised that having a faster pace was more conducive to suspense, which is essential when editing a thriller.  An example of a particularly creative bit of editing we did was for the title.  As thedetectives shut the car doors, the screen goes black, the title comes up and then we see a shot from inside the container as the detectives open it. 




It made a big difference to have the footage in HD, meaning it was clearer when choosing effects and examining how the filters contributed to it.  It looked much nicer and more impressive too!

 

Where "Zirgi" appears before the door opens

Our title

The sound was much more effective in our thriller as well.  As opposed to leaving the sound natural, the actors reciting a  predetermined script (as in the preliminary) we put in many effects, cut and matched sounds to other places in the clip, and added ambient sounds.   The prelim sound was also not in high quality, which we learned to achieve on FCP by selecting the sound and making the levels of each side identical to the better side.  The ambient sounds we used were mainly wind.  We cut the sound so that the detective could be heard speaking before his assistant even opened the secret note from the killer.  "Does it mention dancing horses?"

I have always found working in a team to be challenging, mostly because I don't promote my ideas or voice my concerns as much as I should.  For the prelim, we were in a much bigger group, meaning everyone had a small task to contribute with.  Editing was much more difficult because of the amount of people, but everyone was able to have a turn on the computer.  We were much more organised as a group.

For the thriller, we were in a smaller group of three, meaning that we had more responsibilities and that communication was essential and frequent.  We worked well on ideas leading up to the filming day, and were diligent in keeping the filming and directing balanced during the day.  When it came to editing, we were less balanced, but in the end, everyone was able to contribute, no matter how small.

Technologies We Learned to Use For "Zirgi"

How did we attract/address our audience?

Addressing And Attracting An Audience

The Perfect Audience Member To Our Film

We deduced that our film would target an audience aged 17 to 65, due to the fact that it is less action-packed and more about the intellect and deductive reasoning powers of a detective.

This audience would be predominantly male, as the (male) characters are more relatable for them than for females.  However, the young assistant could attract a female audience to the film.

To specify the thriller to a tribe would be associating it with the "rahs" and "indies".  These groups are generally more culturally aware and interested, watching more niche or foreign films than other tribes.  The background of these tribes is usually upper-middle to upper-class, people who have more time to be interested in these niche films.

Musically, our thriller appeals to people with a more classic new-era taste.  Soft rock, folk and country songs appeal to the audience.

Based solely on the fact that it is a detective/mystery thriller, the TV dramas that the target audience may be interested would be Sherlock, Breaking Bad, and The Wire.

Their classical taste, with an interest in more niche projects, means that the audience would like films such as the James Bond films, The Godfather films, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Joyeux Noel, Life is Beautiful, and Gangs New York.  Mainly historical and gangster films on the mainstream spectrum, with European independent films such as The Girl Who Played With Fire or Let The Right One In.

Some examples of films the target market might want to see in cinemas now are Lincoln, Broken City, Gangster Squad and Skyfall.  Apart from these, they may visit art house theatres such as The Electric Cinema in London.

A few hobbies/subjects that would pique the interest of these people would be reading, photography, art, museums and theatre.  Their style would be classical and aware, not trendy.

Probably professions of the target market would be professors, teachers, people involved in theatre/film, retirees, journalists, writers, law enforcement, or even students.


Here's a Facebook page of the perfect audience member to our film!

Distribution of Zirgi

In order to make the most out of our thriller, it would be best to have a platform release, if we were to choose to release in cinemas.  The cinemas would be smaller, art-house and independent theatres.

It would be ideal to release it on to DVD or other home entertainment systems that the target audience would have (Netflix, BBC iPlayer instead of Xbox, which they probably would not have) right after the cinema release, to capitalise on the word-of-mouth buzz.   It would probably only be released in the UK, as the target audience is mainly a niche British audience.

A company that would be best to distribute Zirgi is Soda Pictures.  Soda Pictures is a UK film distributor of independent, art house and world cinema.  Founded in 2002 by Edward Fletcher and Eve Gabereau, the mission of the company is a commitment to British film, while also expanding the world cinema influences in Britain.  Many of the films it distributes go on to be exhibited in film festivals around the world.  The films are all low to mid budget productions, with varying genres that stay within the niche audience market.

This company does many straight-to-DVD releases, and markets the films sparingly, relying mainly on the short films by more famous directors to draw attention to the films.  Their website includes links to a blog and features trailers and synopses on it, as well as offering free downloads of segments of the film.  This would be adequate marketing for a film with a more well-known director, but in order to have our thriller better received, our film would need to be advertised in print (newspapers, film magazines) or on Twitter and Facebook.  It would be most useful to advertise in libraries, music halls, universities and in-theatre as these are places that the target audience would be found in.

Soda Pictures have distributed films by many famous directors, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Benicio del Toro and Michael Winterbottom, but also from new, relatively unknown directors (like ourselves).

Our film should be exhibited in 2D not only because that is how it was filmed and edited, but due to the fact that our target audience is older, and used to seeing films in 2D.  Additionally, the art-house and independent cinemas of today most likely do not have the funding for 3D exhibition (glasses, formatting) and most films targeted at a niche audience are 2D.

Some films that are similar to ours that they have distributed are "Forgiveness of Blood", an Albanian film, and "Small Town Murder Songs".  "Forgiveness of Blood" is a foreign film about a 17 year old boy accused of murder and forced under house arrest, similar to ours because it is set in Eastern Europe and involves murder.  "Small Town Murder Songs" is about a detective investigating a murder case while battling with his own past, similar to ours in that it is a detective thriller.

Due to the fact that we are a small, independent film targeting a niche audience, and that we have elements of a foreign film (actors, setting) in our thriller, Soda Pictures will be interested in distributing our film!

Representation of Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Sexuality

What does "Zirgi" mean?

Our preliminary title, "Trans-Europe Express" wasn't going to make the cut because it is too general, and also our thriller is not set on a train.

So we chose Zirgi (pronounced JHZER-GEH) is the Latvian word for horse.  We wanted to keep in the theme with horses ("Bring on the dancing horses", from the murder note) and make reference to the Latvian setting.

Wild Latvian horses in Kaujas, Latvia

Conventions of Real Media Products in Our Thriller

Real Media Conventions in Zirgi