My Finished Film

Our finished film was not much different to our first draft. The feedback we received allowed us to make some small changes. We added a longer fade at the end of the title sequence to make a more contemplated difference between the two. Also we edited the music slightly to make it fit the images smoothly. Overall I'm very happy with the finished product.

Evaluation Task 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1. The title is simply placed on a black background and is typical of a horror. The darkness connotes mystery and fear and therefore helps to reflect the genre. The name was very simple. It was linked into the thought process of family trees. The word 'Ancestry' also helps to create suspense because it doesnt portray a clear image of what the film is about for the audience. This is effective because its typical of psychological horror which we aimed to do.

2. Our settings iconography was very basic. One was in a family home where we filmed many clips. In that frame the setting didnt really matter because it wasnt in focus. However when filming the opening we only had the facilites that school allowed us to use. Therefore we had to try and make the setting seem similar to the genre of film. When editing we used effects to compliment our settings and therefore it worked quite well.

3. The props we used were very simple. As the character is homeless they have very little things. The character is posed showing that she is cold. This makes the opening seem more real through her actions. This is less typical because we had no budget. Films shown in multiplexs usually have a high budget and therefore can afford the best actors and best props. As we were limited we tried to make the best out of what we had.

4. We used a range of camera angles when filming. Some worked for example the over the shoulder shot shown above. Others didnt work, however by experimenting we could get a feel for what met the genre and what didnt. From then on we planned our shots careful. It was more important in the title sequence because all of the shots were important. Therefore if they wasn't framed properly they could clash and not create an effective title sequence.

5. We used simple black backgrounds throughout to help compliment the connotations of black. This also helped to create suspense between each shot. This is typical of horrors because it helps to effect the audience and allows them to get involved. We were limited to one macbook therefore when searching for different styles we couldnt do indepth research to find a perfect title.

6. The opening of the film is very important. We used the main idea of our family tree to link it into the name of our film. The shots of the family tree helped us to cut to different images as the events were still progressing. Therefore it becomes more fluent. This is typical of the horror genre, fast paced images allow the audience to be thrilled and anxious of what is to follow.

7. The use of a knife is very stereotypical of horror. Knifes connote blood and fear. The image is very striking and warns the audience to be prepared for the genre of film. Other shots such as the scribbling on the paper is also significant because it shows different types of angers, which changes from normal to insane. The insanity helps to create fear and therefore put the audience out of there comfort zone. As a result they will be more thrilled by the events which will unfold later on in the film.

8. The characters are introduced individually through events. Ella moore (Shara Hobbs) is introduced in the first shot when she shows that she is cold. This allows the audience to being thinking about her. For example why is she there? Man 1 (Jamie Magan) is introduced shortly after when he storms into the room. He shows anger and frustration which suggests that he has received bad news. The facial expression shown by ella creates a link between the two characters. Therefore the audience can begin to think what has she done wrong. Man 2 (Adrian Moore) is introduced when he approaches Man 1. He is simply used to deliver the location of where Ella is. The audience dont pay much attention to Man 2 because his actions are insignificant.

9. Special effects were very important in our film. We were looking to create a fast pace opening so therefore the transitions were very important. We used a red filter to suggest danger. This was complimented by the dark surroundings in each image. Vignette the effect we used was very creative because it created mystery around each shot and caused tension for the audience. We sped up some footage in places to help to suggest insanity. At first we thought it wouldnt work, however it created a very effective shot. The special effects were crucial because without them our film wouldnt meet the genre of horror.

Evaluation Task 2, How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Similarities-

There both young and look vulnerable. This is stereotypical of the horror genre because a young vulnerable teenage girl in danger causes anxiety for the audience. Therefore the extract can make mixed emotions for the audience.

They both have problems and try to deal with them in different ways. Ella our main character is homeless, and the other character is being stalked. They are both therefore in a vulnerable condition compared to a normal teenage girls. The films try to address problems which teenagers dont normally face in real life. Therefore this terrorises a stereotypical teenage girl to cause friction for the audience.

Both characters show similar emotions throughout the films. They are both the main characters and therefore the emphasis is on them. This is done so that the audience shows sympathy for the main character. This helps to create more horror because the audience can be thrilled when the characters they show sympathy for are in danger.

Both characters where similar clothing. This shows that both characters care about what they look like. This is deliberate because it is addressing the same stereotype of a young teenage girl. As a result the films seem more realistic.

Both characters also react in similar ways. When they are about to be harmed they scream and become anxious. Ella panics and quickly gets away, however the other girl in 'a stranger calls' screams but doesnt have enough time to escape. This meets the stereotype because girls usually scream when they feel out of there comfort zone. This device helps to create realism in the extract.

Differences-

Our main character 'Ella' shows more emotions in the film then the girl from a stranger calls. Ella shows different emotions such as, boredom, sadness, anxiety and also thinking. However the girl from a stranger calls only shows panic. This represents females as showing a lot of emotions.

Due to us not having a budget the girl from a stanger calls is a well known established actor. In our circumstances we had a limited amount of people to choose from. However the actor we went with still represented the stereotype that we were aiming for a young vulnerable teenage.

Also the girl from a stranger calls appears to be more vibrant and radient. The high quality of lighting allows to show her in a different way in which we could. Also the girl from a stranger calls is more attractive. This would attract more of an audience.

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

We recorded a voiceover to explain the ways which we distributed and produced our film.

Evaluation 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Demographics:

Our Target Audience was between 16 and 24 male and female. They would be in the D-C category. They would probably be from middle or upper class. Our film didn't actually have an exact race which it was aimed at, we went for a wider audience and aimed it at anyone between the age of 16 and 24. They would watch our film because teenagers like horrors that are both thrilling and shocking. We decided to aim our film at young adults because they would probably have similar interests to us. Therefore our ideas would be current and appeal to the audience. We specifically used a young female protagonist to engage young males. Males would more interested if the main character was feminine because they are more attractive for the male eye.

Psychographics:

The background music we used creates tension. We used this deliberately to put the audience on the edge of there seats. This would appeal more to females because they are usually more anxious then males. We used fast pace editing to add to this effect. Also to create a sense of madness. Finally we thought that teenagers would be the ideal target audience because they could relate to the images.



Our Questionairre Feedback for the Finished Film

1. Is the font we used appropriate?

2. Is the editing sufficient?

3. Does the music fit the images?

4. Does the narrative make sense?

5. Do the characters fit the genre of horror?

6. Is the footage long enough?

7. Did we use a range of shot types?

8. What worked well?

9. What could we improve?

10. Would you watch the rest of the film?



We used simple questions which were yes and no, and we also used open questions to see what the audience enjoyed and what could be improved. This was worthwhile because from that information we could change things to suit our target audience.


Our Responses:
   We had similar responses from the audience. Most people enjoyed the title sequence and said that the transitions were very effective. People thought that the opening was quite unclear. We couldnt avoid this, however we did give as many clues as possible in the title sequence. We thought that most people could understand what was going on. As we only had 2 minutes of footage it would be really hard to make sense of everything. Therefore we did the best we could.
   Also they commented on how there needed to be quiet music throughout the opening. We actually had music in place but it wasnt loud enough. Therefore we could tweak that to satisfy our Demographic. Finally people thought that the fade wasnt long enough between title sequence and opening sequence. Although this may only be a small thing if we could change it could make the film look much sharper.

Evaluation 5. How did you attract/address your audience?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dzcq8Y6_kU

This is the link for our annotated video. We tried to upload the video to the blog, however there was technical issues.

Evaluation 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Editing on the Imac-

We learnt lots when editing on the Mac. We learnt how to tamper with pace and music and fit them into a specific sequence. We had hundreds of effects to choose from, which made our lifes a lot easier. Also we were able to learn how the layout of the mac is more effective than what is on adobe premier pro, because the footage arranges it self and you can drag single bits of footage in at a time.Without the mac our film quality wouldn't be as good as what it is now.

Using a HD Camera (Panasonic HDC-SD80) and Tripod-

The camera we used was different to what we were used to. Usually when filming we would use a standard defenition camera which would be good if kept still. However when using or HD camera we could create effective movement shots. Therefore we could capture different aspects more clearly then we would have been able to with a SD camera. Also the camera allowed us to upload a picture with a lot better quality than normal. So overall we were very pleased that we had the camera at disposal.



Google was our main search engine. We used it a lot more than we expected. Most of our research for our film was internet based. We used it to search for different characters so we could model ours to a successful horror character.

I learnt a lot when using youtube. Firstly I used youtube to look into horror trailers. This gave us some basic ideas of what our horror could be like. Secondly we used it later on in the process. I learnt how to add annotations to a film. This was very helpful because if I am asked to do something similar in the future I will know how.

Digital Voice Recorder- We used a digital voice recorder to record our voiceovers for our film. It was essential that we had a good quality voiceover and they were very clear.

Blogger - I was new to using Blogger and it was more difficult than I thought. I have learnt quite a lot though. I have learnt how to change the layout of my blog and edit the features. Also I have learnt how to link things from other websites to my page. I thought that my blog was a efficient way of expressing my research and planning. This was because it was easy to just add point whether they were in detail of breif. Over the proccess i have picked up many techniques and I will know how to use blogger in the future.

Evaluation 7, Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Our prelimenary task used simple skills such as match on action and the 180 degrees rule. Throughout the editing process we developed more and more skills. Our prelimenary task was captured by a standard defenition camera and was edited on adobe photoshop. Our horror film was different, we elected to use a high defenition camera and we also had the use of a Mac. The Mac quality was much better than adobe premier pro. However what was difficult was learning how to use the Macs effectively. At first we found it tricky but after a while we became comfortable with the editing styles.
The camera work from standard definition to high definition didnt really change much. The major difference was the quality of footage. This was a good choice to use a HD camera because it made our horror film look more appealing and eye catching for the audience.
Editing on adobe premier pro was very basic. We only had the use of a few effects because we didnt want it to be unproffessional. On the Macs we had access to hundreds of transitions and effects. As we wanted to create a fast pace and thrilling title sequence we needed to have a selection of effects. We were praised by our demographic for our title sequence. Most people thought that is caused anxiety for them. This is what we was aiming to do. Without the Macs our film wouldnt be as effective as it is. The footage is quite average but the way we link the shots together made our film unique.

The left image is from our preliminary task. We used simple shots throughout without many effects. We used a simple midshot and the effects we used were mainly fade and dissolve. The other picture is from our horror. It is a simple close up but we have added effects. The transitions we used were much more advanced than just cuts and dissolves. We used a variety of transitions such as flash, blur etc.

We used no music in our prelimenary task but in our horror we had access to over a hundred different sounds. The prelimenary task was used basically as a warm up for our horror film. This helped us to realise what we needed to do first before making it complicated.

Finally we learnt quite a lot from our prelimenary task. We used simple camera techniques such as match on action and the 180 degress rule. We developed those techniques into our horror. Whilst picking up more advanced skills we still obeyed by these skills to make sure that we did the basic correctly. Therefore it was worth while doing a prelimenary task just to develop our basic skills.

Draft of Horror Film

Shot List

We need to take different shots for the opening and the title sequence:

Title Sequence:
-Shot of Chopping Carrot.
-Another shot of chopping carrot but faster.
-Shots of the camera panning our family tree.
-Shot of the notepad and pen.
-Light turning on.
-A close up on an eye.
-Close up of various different headlines from newspaper articles.
-Close up on the name 'Ella Moore'.
-Mid shot of the Kettle Boiling.

Opening Sequence-
-Close up on Shara's face.
-Tracking shot of Mr Magan walking into changing rooms.
-2 shots of banging on the door, inside and outside.
-Tracking shot of Shara running away.
-POV shot of Mr Magan and Mr Moore looking at the empty door.
-Shot of Mr Magan entering the changing rooms.
-Mid Shot of Mr Moore trying to open the door.

Production / Filming Schedule

Test Film - Thursday 1st December-
Equipment- Camera, Tripod

We basically need to study the angles at which we could use in our proper film. Also we need to look at lighting where we are going to film.

Day 1 of Filming- Tuesday 6th December 2011-

Equipment - Camera, Tripod
Props- Knife, Carrot, Notepad, Family Tree, Pen
Actors- Ann Hayden.
Location - Household

We need to film the majority of our title sequence clips. Also if possible discover some new ideas to use in the opening scene.

Day 2 of Filming- Wednesday 14th December-

Equipment- Camera,Tripod
Props- Rucksack, Sleeping bag, Book, Container
Actors- Jamie Magan, Adrian Moore, Shara Hobbs
Location- Boys Changing Rooms

We need to film our main scene. Also we could look into filming more clips to allow us to edit more film. Therefore it will give us more flexibility to experiment when editing.

Day 1 of Editing - Thursday 15th December-

 We need to edit the entire footage and sequence it to fit the music.

Day 2 of Editing - Friday 16th December-

After ordering the footage we need to add titles and adjust the volume and tweek anything that isnt convincing. Also we could look into adding effects and transitions.

Changed Production Logo

We changed the production company logo because when we were editing we felt that we needed colour to stand out on the black title screen. We used red to connote the feeling of horror. Therefore we changed the 'ECKS' to make the words jump out of the screen and grab the readers attention.

Original Draft Storyboard for Horror

These were our original ideas for the script. These were basic ideas which we will look to develop as we move through the production phase.

Certificate of Our Film

We looked to make our film certified 15. We decided to choose 15 because our main target audience was 16-24. This was because we thought that people would have similar interests to us. So therefore we would be able to appeal to the audience more efficiently.
We didnt target it as a PG or U because we didnt feel that the images are appropriate for younger people. If we were to finish our film some of the issues shown on screen would be unsuitable for a young audience.

Also as a group we decided that 12 would be inappropriate. The social issues shown would not suit 12 year olds. Even if we made it a 12A it would still probably not meet the specifications.