The plot of this thriller is very different compared to other generic thrillers, as it has a young girl who is killed with a snake, rather than say, a gun or being strangled. The use of a snake in the film adds more tension, thus adding to the thriller portrayal; as snakes are one of the many phobias’ that humans have.
“Snakes on a Plane” was a big inspiration in this thriller, as it uses claustrophobia and a creature that is usually inferior to human kind having a powerful position in the cycle of life. The atmosphere in the film could represent the code of conduct in the Animal Kingdom, shows how in a state of terror humans act on instinct, this could likened them to that of snakes who have a connotation of being ‘cold-hearted with no remorse’. Snakes depict hatred and have a powerful presence that is indicative of poison and slyness.
Claustrophobic settings are a generic feature of thrillers, and to apply it to “Constriction” it was set in the pre-war era of the 1930s and even though the cast was small and the location was open we created a claustrophobic atmosphere. It is inspired mainly by Carol Reed’s, “The Third Man”. The picture below is similar to that of Harry Lime; who stands in a dimly lit doorway and watches Holly Martins, in the post war Vienna.
The soundtrack challenges other real media projects because it is not a generic piece, but it used for irony(the song is romantic but the events which occur hardly seem like a romantic gesture; and the lyrics are a metaphor for the relationship between Jason Viper and Holly Dove. It also acts as a hidden message to Holly- "Surrender, why don't you surrender?" The era which the film is set challenges other thriller films as most films are contemporary which helps the thriller as can be more realistic to modern life. It also attacks recent advents or what could happen in the future which is generic in thrillers, however "Constriction" is set in the 1940s which makes it not relevent to modern-day life. However, people still contain the same fears in particular animals as they did hundred, or maybe three hundred years ago, which shows that films such as Psycho(1960), Jaws (1975) , The Birds (1963) are still relevent today as they were when they were made.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The media product has a negative view on both men and women. There is an inferior element attached to women as Holly Dove is inferior to Jason Viper who murders her. Other films such as Lila Crane in “Psycho”, and Mia Wallace in “Pulp Fiction” which act as traditional gender representatives. However men have a negative connotation of being cowardly as Jason Viper murders Holly with a snake, which means the snake, killed Holly not Jason, which perhaps takes the guilt off him.
The femme fatale is also represented; and is represented as glamorous and vulnerable. The region represented shows a higher status; which is conveyed through the classic costume of the characters whom portray upper classes. This stereotyping of class and status also mixes in with gender and status as Holly Dove is a victim in the film. It there for conveys that no matter how much or how little wealth you own, you are not safe from death.
The costume difference between the male and female represents their personalities aswell as their social role. Jaspon Viper is wearing a long coat, which portrays him to be hidden and a private person as he walks in a secretative manner. His hat conveys his slyness as he can cover hide his identity under it along with the long coat. This represents his social role as high in the hierachary with power over others. Holly Dove also wears a coat, but along with danity shoes, and a clutch bag. This could therefore be a metaphor for her 'clutching onto her life' aswell as her social status. By hiding her identity through the coat, she could be trying to hide her past and any thoughts and feelings she posseses.
The costume design for both characters portrays them to be similar, however Jason dominates over Holly.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
http://www.tcm.com/multimedia/featuredmovieclips/ is a likely place to show the film “Holly Dove” this is because of the art elements in the film, and the originality in the storyline (the snake). It is also because the film has characteristics of ‘classic film noirs’. The website has audiences of all ages and social groups. The social class of the audience is mainly going to be middle class due to the location (rural area of a city) and costume design (classic costume of the era) in the film. 
The range in age in audience could be that of many, as different elements attract different age groups in the film. Another site that the film may be distributed is www.shortfilms.org.uk. A list of film that the audiences may like are “The Third Man”, as it a classic film noir in post war Vienna;“Once upon a Time in America”, as it conveys the ‘classic femme fatale’ and portrays the taboo in America; and “Psycho”, this thriller is similar to that of “Constriction” through the classic femme fatale portrayal and the era – all of these thrillers are all very different but the film “Holly Dove” contains elements inspired by all four films. 
4) How did you attract/address your audience? 
The camera angles and lighting might attract creative groups who like art as the film is set in the 1930s and uses the noir lighting and suggests classic 1940s-1950s Thrillers. Most noir films contain alienation, pessimism, doomed love, ambiguity, moral corruption and paranoia. In “Constriction” in the first few shots, paranoia is seen in Holly Dove as she walks alone down cobbled streets. Moral corruption is also placed into the film.
5) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I learnt how to edit a film using Photoshop when planning the thriller, and add in a soundtrack and other non-dietetic sounds. I learnt how to alter the lighting (changing it into black and white, and making the picture darker). The lighting being in noir makes shadows easier to see which shows a time reference. The film is shot on Elm hill making the location a typical portrayal of the era (1930s) and the props and costume ties in with this representation of the era- 1930s fur coat and clutch bag, briefcase, black pinstriped suit, and long black coat. The plot helps convey the genre due to the suspense it creates, through slow motion followed by fast action, death and villainy. Through editing we found that there are some aspects in the film which did need to be edited out, such as random people in the background which if spotted reflects on the time reference as the costume conveys them to be from a different era; however overall the shooting isn’t jolty or a cause for concern, which is important in displaying camera skills. There is a cliché element in the film, due to the murderer getting back to Holly’s house after Holly without any permission and the door being unlocked; which often happens in thriller and horror films.
The range in age in audience could be that of many, as different elements attract different age groups in the film. Another site that the film may be distributed is www.shortfilms.org.uk. A list of film that the audiences may like are “The Third Man”, as it a classic film noir in post war Vienna;“Once upon a Time in America”, as it conveys the ‘classic femme fatale’ and portrays the taboo in America; and “Psycho”, this thriller is similar to that of “Constriction” through the classic femme fatale portrayal and the era – all of these thrillers are all very different but the film “Holly Dove” contains elements inspired by all four films. 4) How did you attract/address your audience? Younger audiences’ might be attracted to the characters; action and mis-en-scene- such as the beautiful scenery which helped represent a lifestyle. Femme fatales appeared at great extent in the 1930s and 1940s in films such as: Gilda (1946), Out of the Past (1947), Double Indemnity, The Killers (1946), Murder, my Sweet (1944) and The Maltese Falcon (1941). 
Older audiences might be attracted by the soundtrack; as it was made in the 1940s and is a classic record by The Soundies. The soundtrack was founded by myself on YouTube. I converted the song to mp3 and it works well with the storyline due to the lyrics “surrender, why won’t you surrender”. It is a classical record with aspects of 1930s jazz. It works well as it is a metaphor for the relationship between Jason Viper (the killer) and Holly Dove.
Older audiences might be attracted by the soundtrack; as it was made in the 1940s and is a classic record by The Soundies. The soundtrack was founded by myself on YouTube. I converted the song to mp3 and it works well with the storyline due to the lyrics “surrender, why won’t you surrender”. It is a classical record with aspects of 1930s jazz. It works well as it is a metaphor for the relationship between Jason Viper (the killer) and Holly Dove. The camera angles and lighting might attract creative groups who like art as the film is set in the 1930s and uses the noir lighting and suggests classic 1940s-1950s Thrillers. Most noir films contain alienation, pessimism, doomed love, ambiguity, moral corruption and paranoia. In “Constriction” in the first few shots, paranoia is seen in Holly Dove as she walks alone down cobbled streets. Moral corruption is also placed into the film. 5) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?Through shooting “Holly Dove” I learnt how to use different camera angles such as close ups, medium shots, canted, eye level, medium long shots, tracking, panning and more.
I learnt how to edit a film using Photoshop when planning the thriller, and add in a soundtrack and other non-dietetic sounds. I learnt how to alter the lighting (changing it into black and white, and making the picture darker). The lighting being in noir makes shadows easier to see which shows a time reference. The film is shot on Elm hill making the location a typical portrayal of the era (1930s) and the props and costume ties in with this representation of the era- 1930s fur coat and clutch bag, briefcase, black pinstriped suit, and long black coat. The plot helps convey the genre due to the suspense it creates, through slow motion followed by fast action, death and villainy. Through editing we found that there are some aspects in the film which did need to be edited out, such as random people in the background which if spotted reflects on the time reference as the costume conveys them to be from a different era; however overall the shooting isn’t jolty or a cause for concern, which is important in displaying camera skills. There is a cliché element in the film, due to the murderer getting back to Holly’s house after Holly without any permission and the door being unlocked; which often happens in thriller and horror films.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Websites such as YouTube and Google were helpful, as I was able to find our soundtrack off YouTube, which was a rare copy of the song.
Near the start of the year I looked into the film industry and how director’s utilised the thriller genre in films. Internet Movie Data Base helped me with production and audience information in films that I analysed. 
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The costume from the preliminary task differentiates to that of the opening to the thriller film, one being because they are both set in different periods of time, but also shows the progression in film making such as camera skills. The narrative structure also differs but this is due to the opening of the thriller film being a generic feature. In the preliminary task the cast was just volunteers from the group producing the film, however with the thriller film opening we cast Holly Delany who enjoys drama and looked generic to that of a ‘femme fatale’. Through the planning of the thriller film opening it was clear that the soundtrack would need to either by lyric-less and classical or jazz but it was clear that it would have to fit in the 1940s era.
I have learnt how to make and use a blog; to post work such as thriller planning. Through using this blog I learnt how to scan work onto the blog.
Websites such as YouTube and Google were helpful, as I was able to find our soundtrack off YouTube, which was a rare copy of the song. Near the start of the year I looked into the film industry and how director’s utilised the thriller genre in films. Internet Movie Data Base helped me with production and audience information in films that I analysed. 7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Reflecting back on the preliminary task it seems like an amateur film compared to the finished product. This was the first task which required a group of people collectively working together to produce a combination of match on action, shot /reverse shot and the 180-degree angle rule. These three factors helped for ideas in the final product as it helped with the narrative of the film. After making the preliminary task, the planning would about classic film noir traits, the ‘femme fatale’ and other generic characters. The title of the thriller film opening came with ease as “constriction” is a metaphor for Holly Dove’s position in the film as she is constricted. In reality it is the literal action when snakes eat their prey.
The costume from the preliminary task differentiates to that of the opening to the thriller film, one being because they are both set in different periods of time, but also shows the progression in film making such as camera skills. The narrative structure also differs but this is due to the opening of the thriller film being a generic feature. In the preliminary task the cast was just volunteers from the group producing the film, however with the thriller film opening we cast Holly Delany who enjoys drama and looked generic to that of a ‘femme fatale’. Through the planning of the thriller film opening it was clear that the soundtrack would need to either by lyric-less and classical or jazz but it was clear that it would have to fit in the 1940s era.
