Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Comparing the final film and production for it to the preliminary film we did at the beginning, I think what both as a group and personally, we’ve improved in every aspect.

The most notable change/ improvement would be the planning. When we made the preliminary film at the beginning of the year, we went in it head first with next to no planning. We assumed that we would just take the shots on whatever we think would look good at the time. However after looking back at the final preliminary film, we count have been more wrong. There was no flow from shot to shot, it was confusing, and in complete honesty, it looked like a joke.

After seeing how unsuccessful this was, we decided for the final film, we would spend multiple hours both in school and at home on the planning aspect. And after doing so, we had a specific list on what we would be shooting, what angles, where and when all as a plan. This proved successful in the fact that the final film flows like a normal film should, we have many more shots, and it generally has a professional feel; giving the final film a more ‘real’ media product feel.

Another major improvement will be the maturity in the filming. During the preliminary film, we didn’t take much care, we joked around, and this was shown in the final film, as it wasn’t very good. However we went about the final film as though we were independent filmmakers. We arranged filming out of school time, we took care of the mise en scene of the characters; we dealt with every small issue, and made making the film out top priority over having fun doing it.

Evaluation question 6

Throughout the course of the project, we used a wide variety of technology that all aided to reaching the final product. They varied from online programs, to physical equipment.

1)    Camera

The camera that we used to shoot the actual film was a Panasonic camera. This was used for all of the filming that we used in the final piece. The camera was good for what we need it; it didn’t have the quality that the profession movies would have, but the quality was reasonable/good, which is all we needed. The camera was also easy to use meaning we didn’t have any issues on the filming front, and we were able to straight away pick up the basics and begin to shoot immediately.

2)   Tripod

We used a tripod in almost all of the shots in our film. It allowed us to get steady shots where needed, which gave the film a professional feel to it. Without the use of the tripod, the camerawork would have been very shaky, giving the film a very unprofessional look to it. One member of the team had their own tripod which meant that when it came to the shooting, we didn’t have a struggle with working out how to use the tripod, as the member would be able to set it up straight away, making our shooting very efficient.

3)   Apple mac

This is the computer that we used throughout the entire project. This is where we stored all of our films throughout the project, and it was also the technology we use to do all of the editing on, we use a variety of programmes all on the mac. Using a mac was very ideal as the computers were very fast and modern which made the whole editing a lot smoother and easier for us.

4)   Adobe Premiere pro

This is the software that we used to do all of our editing on. This is the same software that was used in some of Hollywood’s biggest movie. This means that we had potential to make the best opening we can as there was no limit holding us back as we didn’t have to work around what we could actually do on the programme, we had freedom to do whatever we had in our minds. The only problem we encountered with this was the fact that none of us had used this programme before, this was daunting at first as we didn’t know what to do, however after some playing around on it, we all got used to it and used it as normal after day 1 of editing.

5)   Live Type

This is the software that we used to create all of the titles and credentials throughout the opening. Similarly to premiere pro, none of us had used the programme before which caused worry to us, but after some playing around we go the hang of it and were able to use it successfully in the end. The programme was fairly elaborate meaning we had the potential to create the ideal titles that we envisioned in our heads and more.

6)   iMessenger

This is the app on our phones that we used for almost all of our communication as a group. The app is like texting, but it’s free to use on an iPhone, and the messages are instant. This allowed us to communicate with each other in a group message at anytime through out day about anything with each other. We used this on a daily basis to arrange things like where we will be meeting and at what time, and if any problems occur, we can immediately alert the rest of the group.

7)   Blogger

This is the website that we kept an electronic log of what we have and will be doing. The blogs were updated at every stage of the research and planning. Up until this point I had never used this programme before so it was all new to me. At the beginning, I didn’t really know what to do or what to write as I wasn’t used to this style of working, but towards the end of the project, I got the hang of it and was able to comfortably update the blog whenever necessary.

8)   YouTube

YouTube was the online site that we used to post any videos we had taken. These included test footage, rough draft and final video. YouTube was a very useful way that we could transfer video between us outside of school time, because if one member of the group had access to the video, then they could post it onto their YouTube account, meaning the rest of the group would then have access to that video

9)   Voice Recorder

Voice recorder is an app on the mac that allows you to record any sound you want. We used this small software when we were crating the sound of the heavy stomp of the footstep that would then be added into the film to become a diegetic addition to the opening of our 

Evaluation Question 5

5.  How did you attract/address your audience?

We used a variety of different techniques to attract our target audience to our film. The main way we did this was through the use of the mise en scene of the characters and the camera shots. With the genre of our film being thriller we had to create an atmosphere of fear and tension to fit the general codes and conventions of a film of the genre. 

To create the conventional tension of the film we used things such as non-diegetic soundtracks that were like those you would see in a real media thriller. The iconography for a soundtrack for a thriller will be low pitched, slow and bass heavy, inducing fear into the audience, as they don’t know what to expect next. The sound effect we decided to use was a very important choice in the production, as this was the main basis of letting the audience aware of the genre of the opening. 

Our group did some background research into the other films of the genre and decided to look for some sort of soundtrack that was similar to those of a real media product. After continuous searching on copyright free websites we came across the perfect piece that was inevitable for our final piece. 

Another conventional theme we used in our opening, to create attention with the viewer, would be the use of the loud non-diegetic thumping sound, with the screen going black at the same time. This all happens in a short space of time and it has the intention of making the audience jump and induce fear. This is an iconography of the genre with almost all the opening we researched into including a similar theme in their opening. Inducing fear into the audience is a major objective that we needed to follow throughout the opening of our theme, as without the subject of fear, the audience would not be attracted to the film as much as intended.

Another way we created suspense was with the choice of camera movement and shots. The camera movements that we used ensured to never reveal the identity of the antagonist. This is a technique that we used to create a feel of mystery, which is a convention of the genre. This is a technique used in many Hollywood thrillers, as it is a way of subliminally engaging the viewer into wanting to continue watching the film to see whom the protagonist is and when the identity is revealed.

A more specific way that targets the audience would be the main actors. For example teenagers will find actors of the ages 17-18 more applicable and relatable too. This is a similar age as the target audience, which will likely make them want to continue watching. We dressed our actors in clothes that fit the stereotype of a teenage today, which also fit the ‘relatable’ theme we were going for.

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The distribution is a vital part of a successful film. The main, most notorious distribution that occurs will be the distribution done by the Hollywood ‘big 6’. The big 6 are a group of distributors that work along side smaller companies to allow then to vertically integrate their films. However this is only for established companies with very, very high budgets for the distribution.

Due to the lack of budget, our film would be classified as an independent film, meaning we will require choosing an independent movie company to distribute or film. The main difference between an independent company, and a conglomerate would be that the conglomerates aim their movies at tent pole audiences, appealing their films to the masses. The independent companies on the other hand do not have the money to be able to reach a tent pole audience, so they go more for niche, local audiences to promote their films to.

Examples:

Lionsgate

Lionsgate is an American-Canadian distribution company, founded in 1997. The company mainly focuses on foreign and independent films, with its most commercial success being the twilight saga, the hunger games, and saw. However even though it focuses on independent, a film like the hunger games had a $78 million budget.

Universal Pictures

Universal is an American film studio, owned by Comcast, founded in 1912. The company is part of the Hollywood ‘big six’ meaning the budgets for the films it distributes will likely be very high as they will be reaching a wide tent pole audience. The company’s most noteworthy films would include jaws, Jurassic park, and fast and furious 7. Fast and furious 7 had a budget of $190 million.

Film 4

Film 4 is a film studio owned by British televisions channel 4. ‘Film 4 productions’ was officially released in 2006, with its own coinciding channel on British television. The company focuses on films produced in the UK. Some of the films the company distributed include a field in England, 127 hours, and the inbetweeners. A field in England had a budget of just £300,000.

Upon evaluation of these distributors, I believe that film 4 will be the most suitable for our film. This is due to the reason that the company is highly experience in the independent film market, and in particular, UK independents. Although the company focuses on small independent films, which will have a low budget, like ours, meaning we can easily fit in, it also has global success with films; for example the inbetweeners movie has a domestic gross of $35,000, showing the companies high success rate, as they appear to know what they’re doing, they’re reliable, and most accurate for what we need.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Throughout our opening, we have closely followed many of the main stereotypes of the genre, particularly thing such as gender and age stereotypes in the characters. However we subverted the stereotype in terms of class in the representation of the location. We enforced our ideas mostly through the use of camera work.

Firstly the main stereotype, which is supported in almost every film in the horror and thriller genre, is the gender stereotype. In almost all films, the antagonist is represented as a male, while the innocent protagonist is presented as a female. The general social stereotype between males and females is that men are seen as the ‘strong’ sex with the power and masculinity, while women on the other hand are seen as ‘weak’ , fragile and innocent. We decided to go along with this as we wanted the antagonist to coma across as threatening and the protagonist to come across as vulnerable and helpless, and the general stereotypes helped us to create this contrast in characters. It also mean we could implicitly show the audience the storyline, without explicitly having to show who the antagonist is and who the protagonist is, the audience could just easily infer.

Here are some examples of how we enforced the gender stereotypes in out opening:

As you can clearly see, the female wearing pink, 

is seen running and looking back, showing her vulnerability, while the male on the other hand is seen walking, un-phased, wearing all black,

 showing dominance and masculinity. Another way that the male’s dominance is subliminally reinforced is through the way that the camera work never allows the audience to see his face. This shoes the hierarchy of power between the two as the woman’s whole body and face is shown, showing her full vulnerability while the males face is never shown representing power. Another stereotypical representation of the woman’s innocence is presented through the use of her general mise en scene as a character; as seen in the screen shots, her hair is long and flowing and flying backwards as she runs, adding extra emphasis to her femininity which is stereotyped as ‘weakness’.

Later on in the opening the gender stereotypes are continually enforced, in particular when the female is seen tied up to a chair in the shed. She is shown as weak and helpless in the way that she is disorientated after just waking up, she has her hands tied, and she has seemingly no escape. In the same scene, the male’s shadow can be seen walking past, showing the males superiority in the situation, showing he has all the power.

The next main stereotype enforce in our opening would be the age. We represented the protagonist at an age of around 17-18. This meant that the thought of the character being ‘helpless’ could be enforced more due to the fact that the antagonist could be any age, and a teenage girl most likely will not be able to fight back. This subverts the archetype of thrillers as the films actors are usually a lot older, which can man that the film is more ‘relatable’ tot eh target audience being 15+ as it could happen in a real life situation.

Continuing on from the relatable point, by having the location in a seeming middle class location, this subverts the genre. The stereotypical location for a thrill is either very wealthy or very poor, however by having ours represented in a middle class suburban area, it can be more relatable to the viewer, causing more interest, as it feels more realistic.