Evaluation - Question 7

In this blog post I will be looking back at my Preliminary task and explaining what I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product. 

Pre-production - 

• I feel that my time management improved following on from the preliminary task. I was able to get all of the planning and research done quickly. This meant that I had longer to film and edit. This also meant I was able to organise myself better as I was not in a rush. 

• We also produced a shot list for the main task. This enabled us to use our time effectively when filming meaning that we managed to get all of our shots in one day. This was good because it meant that we didn't have to worry about arranging more days that everyone was available. 

Filming - 

• In terms of filming, one thing I learnt from the progression from the Preliminary task to the Main task was to use a tripod to keep the camera steady. In our preliminary task we didn't have access to a tripod so filmed it freehand, this meant that there were sections where the footage was shaky. To improve, we borrowed a tripod for filming of our main task. This gave our piece a more professional look to it. 

Post-Production - 

• In post production, in the progression from the Preliminary task to the Main task, we as a group learnt to apply different transitions between shots in order to slow down the pace. We decided to do this as we only used straight cuts between shots in our preliminary task, which made it feel fast paced. We tried out different transitions and decided on cross-faded. However, we later decided to change to dip to black to make the pace even slower. 

Evaluation - Question 6

In this blog post I will be explaining what I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product.

Here is a Prezi I made to present this - 

Evaluation - Questions 4 and 5

In this blog post I will be considering  the audience for our media product and how we attracted and or addressed them throughout our film opening. 

Ideal Person Profile - 

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Interests:  Horror movies, Shopping, Going out with friends.

Dislikes: Romantic movies, School, Cats.

Hobbies: Swimming

We think that this person would be the ideal person for the audience of our film because they are interested in horror movies which means they are more likely to enjoy it than someone who dislikes horror films. They are also in the middle of the target audience age range which means that the content is appropriate and won't be as scary and disturbing for them. 

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

We decided the certification for our film would be 15+. We thought this because the film consists of:

• strong violence, 
• drug taking, 
• dangerous behaviour, 
• threat.

Also during our research we discovered that the top 15 rated film of 2015 was a horror. This shows that this genre typically has higher age ratings due to the content. We also found out that 15-24 year olds make up the largest proportion of cinema views. This means that our film is more likely to gain more views than an 18 rated film as a larger audience is available. 

Both female and male audiences will watch our film, however as the main character is female we mainly targeted our film towards the female gender. We feel that this will attract a larger audience as many females who would not usually go to the cinema to watch a horror will feel more connected with the film and want to watch it. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation - Question 3

In this blog post I will be researching the kind of media institution that might distribute our media product and why they would be good for this. 

When I was deconstructing other film openings I researched the distributors of each film. I found out that 'The Woman in Black' was distributed by an independent distributor in the U.K. called 'Momentum Pictures'. 

As our film would have a small budget an independent distributor would be the appropriate media institution to distribute our film. An independent film distributor often works in conjunction with other distributors in order for the film to be viewed worldwide. For example, 'Momentum Pictures' distributed 'The Woman in Black' in the U.K. only but 'CBS Films' distributed in the U.S. Independent film distributors are also frequently owned by larger companies that have many divisions. When distributors work together it means that costs can be reduced. This is good because it allows smaller budget films to be distributed and seen across the world.

Our film may also be available on online sites such as Netflix or Amazon instant video. This is because the small budget would mean limited money for distribution and sites like these are cheaper for both us as the Film company and the audience. This means a wider range of people are likely to watch the film as they don't have to spend as much money as they would if they went to the cinema. This kind of distribution would also mean that younger audiences, such as 15-18 year olds are more likely to watch our film, as it is easy to access. This is good because our film is aimed at this age range. 

Evaluation - Question 2

In this blog post I will be studying how our media product represents a particular social group and the ways in which it does this.

Evaluation - Question 1

In this blog post I will be exploring the ways in which my media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products. 

When previously analysing professional productions we researched some of the common forms and conventions of the opening of a horror film. This helped us when planning our own opening as we were able to have a clear idea of what our piece needed to contain in order to look professional and have a convincingly scary feel to it. 

Music - 

The most common convention of a horror film opening is to have scary and creepy background music. We followed this as we thought it worked effectively in the films we researched and so felt that it would enhance the overall opening sequence. In our analysis of 'The Woman in Black' we noticed that the background music built up slowly. This lead us to experiment with the use of fade in and fade out of music at the beginning and ending of our opening. 

Introducing Characters - 

Another convention that we noticed in 'The Woman in Black' was showing the character from behind but not revealing them. The intention of this is to make the audience intrigued and make them want to continue watching to find out more about the character. We had lots of shots that contained the main character from the back but we decided not to show her face as it creates more mystery and suspense. However, we did decide to show the face of the victim as it shows they are more vulnerable. This is similar to 'The Woman in Black' where the faces of the three children (the victims) are shown throughout.

Colours - 

A convention that was present in all three of the openings I analysed was the use of dark colours. The fact that this is used in all three of the film openings suggested that it is effective and creates a convincing atmosphere. Initially our footage was quite light and bright, this contradicted the atmosphere we were trying to portray. This meant during our editing process we tried out different methods of making the footage darker. Once we had applied effects to make our footage darker, the overall effect of it was more convincing and had a scarier atmosphere about it.

We also developed the use of dark colours by adding black and white filters to the beginning few shots and end shot of our opening. This was a convention that used to be used in horror films but is not used as widely in present day. We chose to use this to represent that there was a significant amount of time between the two scenes. 

Sound - 

From my analysis of 'Lights Out' I noticed that the dietetic sound of footsteps was used at the beginning to add emphasis to the fact that the warehouse was large and empty. We used this idea at the beginning of our opening sequence to create the same effect. Our main character Evangeline was running under a bridge and the sound of her footsteps on the wet ground made an echoing sound. This created the sense of isolation which is typically associated with fear and abandonment; one of our key themes in the movie. 

Clip from our film opening 'Evangeline'

Clip from 'Lights Out' 

Editing - 

Our editing challenged to typical conventions of a horror film. We used the 'dip to black' effect between each of our clips in order to slow the pace of the opening down. However, in all three of the films I analysed they used straight cuts to transition between shots. This created a faster pace and made the audience feel more worried and tense. 

We also challenged the conventions of the three films I analysed by having our credits and title run over the top of our footage. Although this is not always the case, the three films I analysed did not have credits during the opening of the film. We chose to add our credits at the beginning because many people leave the cinema or turn off the DVD as soon as the film is over meaning the people who worked on the film don't get the recognition for their hard work. 

Setting - 

The setting of our film, the woods, is stereotypically seen as a scary place. Although none of the films I deconstructed were set in a wood, the setting still uses a typical convention of horror films. 

Font Types - 

The font we chose to use as our credits and titles was Adobe Carlson Pro in italic. We chose this because it was smart and professional looking but also had a creepy and horror feel to it. After researching fonts and typefaces we recognised that many horror fonts used serifs. We decided to use this convention because it was simple but effective and created the professional look we wanted. 

Camera Angles - 

Some of the camera shots and angles we used in our opening scene were; pan, tracking, point of view and tilt. We used a pan in conjunction with a POV shot to show the surroundings of the character. This is a typical convention of horror films as it allows the audience to feel like a part of the film and feel the fear of the victim. 

Final Film Opening - Evangeline

This is our final edit of our film opening of Evangeline -