Evaluation of "Faye"

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The plot of our thriller film, ‘Faye’, was primarily inspired by Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), with the idea of Marion Crane stealing money off her boss, in order to buy her lover then running away. Marion Crane has influenced our main character, Faye by taking money and a bank card off of her victim and passing it on to her friend, Rose, thus resulting in the idea of a stolen identity.
The name of our thriller film, ‘Faye’, was inspired by the film ‘Jackie Brown’, (Quentin Tarantino, 1997) where the main character is the title of the film. We developed the name ‘Faye’ from the word ‘fate’ to foreshadow Faye’s ultimate fate. ‘Faye’ alliteratively suggests links to the phrase ‘Femme Fatale’, Faye being the classic femme fatale character in our film, independent and glamorous, her costume reflecting her deviance (the red hat, red painted fingernails, red lipstick). The opening sequence suggests that Faye meets a similar fate to that of Marion Crane. A more contemporary ending would be Faye surviving, and in a further cut of the film, the final cut would be Faye’s flight to the west, escaping her dangers. This is an idea inspired by Jackie Brown driving away with the money in Tarantino’s film.

(Jackie Brown – Quentin Tarantino)

The location of our thriller film was inspired by ‘The Third Man’ (Carol Reed, 1949). In the final sequence, Carol Reed uses the dark, gloomy, claustrophobic and unglamorous location of a sewer. This unglamorous location is generic in thriller films, for example the desolate estuary in ‘Essex Boys’, where the victim is carelessly dumped. We have developed this by using a dirty, unglamorous back alley to suggest anti-social behaviour, as it reflects the sort of location where drug addicts may hang out, relevant to the dealing of money in our own film.

(Sewers - The Third Man – Carol Reed) (Alleyway - Faye – Our Film.)

Our soundtrack is a song covered by Ella Fitzgerald, ‘Basin Street Blues’. This song references Faye’s dreams of escape, with lyrics such as ‘the land of dreams’, showing Faye may be dreaming of a glamorous life in a big American city, quite different to the unglamorous provincial location she finds herself in at the time, and the crime she appears to have committed.
Our thriller film ends with a typical convention of the thriller genre, with a cliff hanger which is to engage the audience, and to create suspense. The focus on Rose’s eyes at the very end raises questions in the audience such as, “Is the boy alive?”, “Who is Faye’s attacker?”, “Who is the woman with the dark hair?” and “Has Faye been set up?”.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Faye, the main character of our film, a girl preoccupied with appearance and corrupted by greed. Rose is Faye’s opposite and is a victim of a drug addiction and an abusive boyfriend. The name Rose is ironic, it contradicts with the symbolic meaning of the rose. Rose cannot love and her future is left ambiguous at the end of the film. The victim, Robert, is a victim of crime which is established in the title sequence where is lying in the dirt, in a deserted alleyway.
We also represent the less pleasant areas of England, the dark side of British impressionism, with the unkempt alleyway, dim lighting and desolation, representing the greed and social class created by 21st century materialism.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think our thriller film would be considered as an art house thriller. This is because it is controversial on character roles, and the actions these characters take. Also due to its complexity in the way that characters are portrayed as dead, when however they are not. I would like to think our film could be distributed in a cinema, but this would be difficult due to funding, however we could use new media outlets for distribution, such as websites like YouTube and MegaVideo. It could also be viewed by audiences on media software, such as games consoles, MP4 players, and the new generations of IPod.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The type of audience that our film would attract would be innovative people, people who can relate to the main character, as being risk-takers, however also conforming people, who could relate by the following of a crowd, as Faye seems to follow Rose, reflected when Faye gives Rose the money. The age of our target audience would be 16 – 25 year demographic, more likely to enjoy the suspense, and gangster-like action of our thriller. It would also attract audiences who enjoy thriller films such as ‘Psycho’ (Alfred Hitchcock) and ‘Jackie Brown’ (Quentin Tarantino) as there are several references to these films within our film, also those who enjoy thriller TV series such as The Bill, due to the issues of crime and identity theft. It would also attract women in the 18-25 demographic, who may find Faye a film with a strong female lead appealing, especially with a young woman who survives by her own wit and conscience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We tried to attract our audience through identification, the relations the audience can find between themselves and the characters, and also through the build up of suspense. From feedback, we learn that the audience liked the irony and tension the soundtrack built up, and how the name ‘Basin Street Blues’ reflected the unglamorous location the film was shot in, also that they were attracted by the crime and identity theft themes present. The audience were mostly attracted through our use of suspense through the soundtrack and action.
What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Before constructing our thriller film, I had never operated a Canon digital film camera, and I had never used Premiere Elements, however I soon mastered the controls. I can now use all the editing options, including video transitions and sound effects. I also know all the different shot types, including the tilt shot, and the worms’ eye view, and also the 180 degree rule, commonly used in soap operas.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel I have learnt how to correctly, and steadily use a digital camera, and how to edit a film, using Premiere Elements, accurately. I also feel I have learnt to construct a film in time to meet a deadline, also how to work in a group with a tight schedule, without distracting ourselves. I also feel I now know enough to refer to the conventions of the thriller genre within our thriller film. I also know how to plan a film, using storyboards, appropriate costume designs and dialogue, also how to use a camera efficiently at a shoot and get as many cuts and shots as possible. I also know how to edit different parts of the film, moving parts out of the linear sequence and using slow motion, also how to change the volume of the sound and how to add titles.