Target audience

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

How does the clip from Doctor Who represent gender?

Gender is represented in various ways in TV drama’s, some showing the male character as the most important and powerful character, other’s showing the female taking charge. This clip from Doctor Who begins with representing gender in a stereotypical way, the male character who is the master is firstly shown in the clip as powerful and dominant. This is due to the many low angle shots of him standing higher than those around him, signifying he has the power over everyone and is therefore thought to be the most important character in the shot. The female character Martha is shown as being a lot lower down than him which confirms the gender stereotypes of women not being as important as men. There is also a long shot and then a close up shot of the master which both connote his dominance over the situation. 
Whereas Martha is portrayed as having little power in the situation at first due to having to kneel down to the master. When entering the scene the camera is at the point of view of her which puts the audience in the position of the character, this enables the audience to sympathise with that character as they are put in a vulnerable position. During this scene there is a quick cut away from someone with a machine gun whilst Martha is walking through, this establishes that there being guarded, leaving her vulnerable and in the control of all the male characters surrounding her. 
The aspects of mise-en-scene which represent and challenge the gender stereotypes are firstly Martha’s costume, she is shown wearing unglamorous clothes that look more masculine than feminine. This challenges the female stereotypes as she isn’t obsessed with her appearance like some women are thought to be. Whereas, the other female in the shot who is standing away from everyone at the back is the masters ‘trophy wife’ who is shown in a seductive red dress, which is provocative. Throughout the scene she just stands still behind the master, suggesting that she is only there to look good, she is there as the masters trophy to show off, she’s his property. This low angle mid shot of the master with his trophy wife in the background continually gets referred back to. Another aspect of mise-en-scene is the soundtrack, first of all the non-diegetic sound heard sounds like the music from a showdown in a western. This links to the showdown between the doctor and the master, it suggests there battling against each other for the most power. Also this shows the struggle between good and evil as they are both in conflict with each other, like in a western. Lighting is also an important aspect of this scene as there is key lighting focusing on the master which shows his dark side and evil personality. 
As the female are shown as being out of power and control this soon changes in this scene as Martha then challenges the stereotype as she becomes in control of the situation. The camera then changes position as the master loses his power, this shows that the male character isn’t always the most dominant. As soon as Martha begins to take control the music changes this shows her strength, and as soon as she laughs you then hear a warmer soundtrack which sounds as if it is building up to something. There is then dialogue and Martha says that she did it all on her own, signifying her power and independence. Also there are dissolves which signify flashbacks, these show what she did do on her own, and there are shots of her in nature which shows that women are powerful when they tap into nature. Gender stereotypes are shown clearly in this clip as the male character is shown as reverting to violence to gain control, whereas the female character can win with words and thoughts rather than physical strength.
During the flashbacks of Martha she is shown in the centre of the crowd on the stairs bringing everyone in unity, this shows that she represents women as bringing everyone together. Chiaroscuro lighting is shown as you can see the candle lighting on her face, this shows her significance. Whereas technical lighting is used on the master showing his evil personality. In the end of the clip there is tighter close ups showing the emotions of the characters, and a nearly extreme close up of the master. There is then a shot of the doctor who is shown as the brightest in the shot signifying his importance and power. The camera then pans up and the low angle of the master is changed showing the change in power. Finally, it ends with a panning and tracking shot towards the master ad if the camera is chasing him, this enables the audience to experience his power and control. 

Classic femme fatale - Carmen final scene

The classic femme fatale is shown in films as the deviant, irresistibly attractive female who leads those around her, especially men into danger. Firstly, an example of a femme fatale in a thriller is Marion Crane from "Psycho" who shows deviance as she steals a vast amount of money, her actions could lead those around her into dangerous situations. However this film contrasts that as she leads herself into a dangerous situation rather than others around her. Based on Georges Bizet's opera, the film by Carlos Saura's portrays the character Carmen as the classic femme fatale. It shows the story of the opera through flamenco dancers in rehearsal. In this clip Carmen is shown as a powerful and dangerous women who clearly doesn't care about anyone. There is a conflict between Carmen and one of the other female dancers, they are both shown as leaders of their group of dancers, showing their power and strength.There is an effective use of silence on the cliffhanger when Carmen stabs the other women. This builds up a tense atmosphere as if everything has come to a hold, the rehearsal has stopped due to the sudden murder.

  The final scene of this film shows the director of the production stab Carmen to death, his love for her therefore became too obsessive. This scene could make the audience question whether what's happening is real life or just a rehearsal, there is a sense of confusion between illusion and reality. During this scene you can notice that everyone dancing is of all age groups and looks, meaning that your looks and age don't matter, anyone can join in the dance. Also, Carmen is showing wearing a provocative costume which is also bright red and black, red connoting blood and violence and black signifying death. Then suddenly Carmen is then drawn away by the director from the joyfulness of the rehearsals to unglamorous toilets signifying the immoral and violent events that will occur. 

Title ideas

The title for our thriller will be 'Red Snow' this references to the location of the thriller, and shows that chilling and eerie things may have happened there. This is due to the fact that snow is supposed to be white so as our thriller is called 'Red Snow' could that signify murderous events happened there, as the colour red symbolizes blood and violence. The font for our title will be a simple looking font that doesn't take over the shot, so as it is subtle it creeps into the shot creating an eerie feel. The bright orangey red colour stands out and contrasts to the white snow, this colour is also the same as the victims coat which is a significant part of the shots in the snow, due to how brightly it shows up in the snow.

However, when editing and adding titles to our thriller this particular colour was too shocking and drew too much attention away from the actual thriller. So, therefore I decided to incorporate a more subtle colour of font that is still effective and due to it's subtlety it adds more tension and isn't too obvious.

  For ideas on how to use our title and production company name in our thriller I watched the title sequences from other thrillers, an example of one is Animal Kingdom. This particular title sequence introduces the actors names and production company subtly throughout the opening so it doesn't take over the scene. That is the effect I would like to incorporate in our thriller as it gives an authentic feel and builds up suspense.

Another film that has a font for it's title sequence which is subtle yet effective is Essex Boys. I like this particular font due to the fact that it is a basic font that isn't over the top and would look nicely in the opening to our thriller as it wouldn't take over the scene.

Locations

Once Upon a Time in America - Intertextual references

When recently watching a clip of the crime thriller Once Upon a Time in America, I noticed particular shots that are used which connote suspense and tension perfectly. This is a powerful film where the characters hide behind their tough exteriors and only show repressed emotions. Sergio Leone establishes the genre of the film with brute force, due to powerful close up shots and tilt shots.For example this worm's eye tilt shot of Noodles taken from point of view of Joe enables the audience to be positioned with the character, leading them to feel vulnerable. As it includes the audience into what's happening they would feel more afraid of the dominant character as they are beneath him. This gives the male character in the shot more power as not only is he highest and biggest part of the shot, you also see him holding a gun towards another direction meaning he is dominating the whole scene. We could incorporate a shot like this one in our thriller as during it there is a victim who is being dragged across the ground, so therefore the camera could be at the position of the victim looking up at it's assailant. This would entice fear as the audience would be put in the position of the victim leaving them feeling as vulnerable as the victim is. The worms eye point of view shot could also be used to show a identifiable object on the victim's assailant so the audience can identify with that character. As, in this shot you notice the character wearing a black trilby hat which is also shown in the classic thriller The Third Man This shows that the character of Noodles is trying to disguise himself, this is because the crime of deviant act that they committed should be kept secret. This connotes mystery and could make them the enigma because they  do not want their real identity to be found out.

The use of close ups in this film are very important as in this particular shot they engage the audience to the horror of what's happening.Also, this close up shot enables the audience to notice the characters emotions, and also allows them to clearly see how awfully hurt he is meaning that who done it to him must be menacing violent people. So therefore a representation of violence is shown here. Close ups like this would be good to use in our thriller because there is a shot where the victim is laying either unconscious or dead on the ground, so a close up shot of her face could be shown to engage the audience into what's happening.