Evaluation Activity 7

Compared to the first preliminary task that we filmed, I believe that our filming, camerawork and editing has improved greatly. We recorded our preliminary task at the beginning of the topic, with little preparation and only one lesson to film it. We used a limited amount of shots, like close ups, long shots and mid shots. We didn't really use any camera techniques, instead we used a tripod the whole time and the camera stayed stationary. Cuts were the only editing we did.

Our preliminary task was pretty messy, and some of the cuts were jumpy with speech missed out. This was because this was the first time we'd tried editing a film, and we had used the razor tool to cut the film and accidentally deleted part of it and didn't know how to get it back. I also hadn't had much practice with cameras, at school or at home, so the whole filming process and taking photos was new to me. Our horror film obviously improved as we used a much greater variety of camera shots than the preliminary task. Long shots, mid shots and close ups were used throughout. We had panning and tracking shots, which look much more interesting than the stationary shots in the preliminary task. Editing was greatly improved too, as we spent much more time on it and knew where and how to add things, like a colour contrast when the sky was too light and I wanted the scene darker, and included many special effects and sound effects that were never used in the preliminary task.

The camerawork was a little shaky in part of our horror film, but not in our preliminary task. This was done on purpose though because we wanted to create the effect of a monster chasing the characters, especially as we combined it with a tracking shot. In editing, I used ghosting was one of the special effects added, and it made the hand at the end of our film look supernatural and not human, to give the effect that the person behind the door is a predator. Colour offset is another thing I added because one of the photos I included in the film wasn't the right colour, so the colour offset tool changed it to make the writing on the sign in the photo red and bold, which means it stood out and is more noticable to the audience.

The 180 degree rule is a technique I learnt in the preliminary task, which is where you stick to one side, 180 degrees, of the characters so that it doesn't confuse the audience by switching sides and keeps continuity. As our film had many shots and cuts, we didn't need to worry about this rule, but we would need it in a tv drama similar to our preliminary task. Overall, our horror film was successful and we learnt a lot about technology and camera techniques during our topic, so from the time of our preliminary task we gained a lot of experience which helped our horror film look more proffessional.

Evaluation Activity 6

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

We didn't use very much equipment during our filming, only the basics. When we went out to film we took a videocamera to film and a tripod for some of the shots that we needed to be steady, and also a normal camera to take pictures of the process. 

We used various programmes during the editing process though. Adobe premiere was the most important as this was the programme we were using to edit our film. Before our filming, I had only used it a few times so I only knew the basics, but through exploring and trial and error, I worked out how to cut parts out, add music and sound, change scenes around and add effects etc to make the film look how I wanted it.

Another programme I used was Adobe Photoshop as there were photos we had taken before and during the filming that we wanted to include and they weren't the right size or they needed some editing. Our logos were images we found on Google and edited on Photoshop to make them our own. To create our logo, we had to use tools such as the magnetic lasso tool which allowed us to cut out the part of the image we wanted. At times, it was quite difficult as it didn't want to go along the edges that we wanted. The rectangular marquee tool was used to cut and paste the 9 images together so that I could display them on my blog.

Lastly, I moved my film into Windows Movie Maker. We imported the video into the programme and waited for it to be compressed, and then saved it to our computer. We needed to do this because as we were putting our films onto the internet and blogger, so the file size was too large to go on without problems occurring, like it freezing or skipping. The compressed video was then placed on my blog and works fine.

We used another piece of technology when recording our voiceovers called 'ESI Rekord M'. This device was used so that I could record my voice clearly when talking about production and distribution of my film opening. I learnt that it's best to have it sitting on a surface in front of you instead of holding it right up to your mouth, as doing this can make the sound muffled and unclear. The device was useful because it was easy to use and the recording time was displayed on the screen, so I could try and make the speech length the same as the video length.

 

 

 

 

Evaluation Activity 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Below is the link to my opening to a horror film, Chasing Shadows, with annotations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSbzbxOiFwc

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

To understand who my target audience is, I decided to ask a group of 10 people with different ages, gender and backgrounds about their film preferences for my target audience research. I asked them about their favourite genre and what kind of films appeal to them. I used the answers they gave me to get a better understanding of who my film would be aimed at, the kind of people that would come and watch it and what they would want out of it.

I had decided that the film would have the age certificate 15, due to the fact that the violence and horror is implied instead of shown, so while it doesn't have the more extreme parts of horror films like gore, younger viewers may still find it scary and therefore making it unsuitable for those under 15. Also, the characters that appear in the film are all 16-17, so that would likely be the age group that would go to see this film as they can relate to the characters and their experiences, which makes the film more realistic and enjoyable. The main characters are all female, so that could possibly mean that the target audience leans more towards females, but males may also enjoy it.

My research has shown that it seems females would probably enjoy this film on average more than men would. It turns out that gore and monster genres of horror are watched more by males than females, while psychological thrillers such as our film are watched more by females.

Evaluation Activity 3

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

Notes:

The production company is a group of people responsible for creating new media, like tv programmes and films. They can also be responsible for gathering money to fund the production. The production company can be both small and large, like its products.

Film distributors are companies that take a film thats been produced and release them for public viewing. A distributor would have to either have to own distribution networks, like theatres, or contact a distribution network and work with them. Anthem Pictures, Brain Damage Films, Darclight.

20th Century Fox
Lions Gate
Paramount Pictures

In most films, the credits will show the names of the actors first. They would usually be the most famous people involved in the entire film, including production etc, so the general audience is likely to want to know their names more. Smaller jobs like photography that have a smaller effect on the outcome of the film would come after.

Evaluation Activity 3 - Script

The name of my production company is DreamScream productions. We got the idea of the name of the company from the popular production company DreamWorks, and changed the name around a little by adding the word scream, which is associated with horror. This makes the production company specific to horror, like Twisted Pictures.

A production company is a group of people who are responsible for creating new media, like TV programmes and films. They can also be responsible for gathering money to fund the production. The production company can be both large, like Paramount Pictures, or small, like Brain Damage Films whic deals with more independant films.

Film distributors are companies that take a film thats been produced and release them for public viewing. A distributor would have to either have to own distribution networks, or have connections with distribution networks and work with them.

In most films, the first names you will see in the credits or title sequenc would be the main actors and actresses, so I revealed Emily and Helen's names first as they appear the most in the film. Other actors came in after because they appear for a shorter time. The directors and film crew came next because their jobs are also important, but the audience wouldn't be as interested in them as they are less publicised.

A small film like mine would likely get funding from other film companies or funding from the government. DreamScream Productions would start off as a small production company and get sponsors to help fund the distribution of our film. FilmFour is an example of a financer that would give money to films, like British film Shaun of the Dead. Our film is similar to Shaun of the Dead genre wise, so FilmFour could be the kind of financer we use.

Idea of the Hand

The idea of the hand on the windows came from a few different places. I've seen a few horror films that use this technique to shock and scare the audience, especially when the hand slams against the window after quiet music, possibly making the audience jump. The hand at the window shows that something is there, something is to fear, but you don't know who or what because you don't see their face. Fear of the unknown is common, solike my mask research shows, people are scared of things or people when they don't know their identity.

The film 'When a Stranger Calls' does this as they have someone phoning up and talking to the main character, but don't show his identity apart from shadows until later into the film.