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?
Looking back at our preliminary task, I feel that I have a more in depth knowledge on how to make a successful media product, developing both my camera skills and software editing skills in the progression from our preliminary task to our main task.
The preliminary task enabled us to make mistakes which we could learn from, giving me an insight into the use of camera angles, software editing, sound and 'Mise en Scene. All which are factors and techniques that cause a media product to become more successful that I needed practise on. Therefore the preliminary help me and my group to produce a more successful opening scene.
Camera Use
In our preliminary task our brief stated that we had to use three different camera angles, these were:
-Match on action
-180 degree rule
-And shot reverse shot
this gave me experience and a small depth of knowledge on different camera angles and why they were used in media products.
Software
In our preliminary task we uploaded our footage onto the software, only using basic skills to put our preliminary task together and add titles.
Friday 18 February 2011
Evaluation Activity 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the construction of this product?
During the process of creating our media product I feel that I have learnt many things about different technologies. The different types of media our group used to create our media product are:
- Two different camcorders
- Camera
- Computer/Internet
- Premier Elements Software
By using Premier Elements software my understanding of knowledge of how this worked grew and grew each time. The things which improved whilst using this software was:
- Developing editing skills
- Time stretch
- Transitions
- Duplicating
- How to upload video footage onto the software
I also furthered my depth of knowledge and understanding about camera angles and techniques. I have learnt to know what different camera angles are used for in films. This helped to improve our media product making it more successful.
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During the process of creating our media product I feel that I have learnt many things about different technologies. The different types of media our group used to create our media product are:
- Two different camcorders
- Camera
- Computer/Internet
- Premier Elements Software
By using Premier Elements software my understanding of knowledge of how this worked grew and grew each time. The things which improved whilst using this software was:
- Developing editing skills
- Time stretch
- Transitions
- Duplicating
- How to upload video footage onto the software
I also furthered my depth of knowledge and understanding about camera angles and techniques. I have learnt to know what different camera angles are used for in films. This helped to improve our media product making it more successful.
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Evaluation Activity 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
The group was able to address our audience by exporting our opening scene into a movie file on our software, this enabled us to upload our video onto a website called Youtube. Once our opening scene was on Youtube we could then share our product with others by using a URL.
On my facebook page I then posted this URL to the age range of my target audience (16 - 25 years of age). Once our target audience had watched our opening scene we were hoping that if they liked it they would show it to their friends, who would also be categorized into our target audience. This is an example of 'The Two Step Flow'.
We were able to attract our target audience because our opening scene relates to an existing media product with the same genre. For example Paranormal Activity. This is because this film is also a home made media product, like ours.
The group was able to address our audience by exporting our opening scene into a movie file on our software, this enabled us to upload our video onto a website called Youtube. Once our opening scene was on Youtube we could then share our product with others by using a URL.
On my facebook page I then posted this URL to the age range of my target audience (16 - 25 years of age). Once our target audience had watched our opening scene we were hoping that if they liked it they would show it to their friends, who would also be categorized into our target audience. This is an example of 'The Two Step Flow'.
We were able to attract our target audience because our opening scene relates to an existing media product with the same genre. For example Paranormal Activity. This is because this film is also a home made media product, like ours.
Evaluation Activity 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The age of our target audience is around 16-25 years. This is due to 80% of the questionnaire samples being given out were students. For our film, this can be related to by the audience as our main characters are teenagers which provides a pathway for connection from the audience. The majority of our target audience will be made up of students due to the age range. Also because of how around 80% of my thriller consumption research proved to be thriller fans. The interests of our target audience are demonstrated mostly by other thriller films which they like such as, Jaws, Die Hard, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs.
The age of our target audience is around 16-25 years. This is due to 80% of the questionnaire samples being given out were students. For our film, this can be related to by the audience as our main characters are teenagers which provides a pathway for connection from the audience. The majority of our target audience will be made up of students due to the age range. Also because of how around 80% of my thriller consumption research proved to be thriller fans. The interests of our target audience are demonstrated mostly by other thriller films which they like such as, Jaws, Die Hard, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs.
Evaluation Activity 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A production company is reponsible for the development and physical production of a new media product. Therefore, me and my group members (Ellie, Amelia and Honor) were responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product, (being an opening scene) we could say that we have acted like a production company throughout the whole process of producing the thriller opening scene.
A production company may also be directly responsible for the raising or funding for the production of this media product. The budget which the media group had was £5, which is extremely low, but most of the props and costumes used were already owned by a member of the group. However, if we were to create a professional media product which could be defined as 'Category A' (meaning the film was made with entirely British sources and that most of the funding for our media product would be supplied by the British film council).
In the film instution, our thriller film would compete with other films such as:
- The Strangers
- Se7en
- Paranormal Activity
This is because, Paranormal Activity is a significantly low budget film which was produced on a hand held camera, which is similar to our film. Also, the other films listed above also have the same type of thriller effects which are portrayed and conveyed in our media production opening scene.
A production company is reponsible for the development and physical production of a new media product. Therefore, me and my group members (Ellie, Amelia and Honor) were responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product, (being an opening scene) we could say that we have acted like a production company throughout the whole process of producing the thriller opening scene.
A production company may also be directly responsible for the raising or funding for the production of this media product. The budget which the media group had was £5, which is extremely low, but most of the props and costumes used were already owned by a member of the group. However, if we were to create a professional media product which could be defined as 'Category A' (meaning the film was made with entirely British sources and that most of the funding for our media product would be supplied by the British film council).
In the film instution, our thriller film would compete with other films such as:
- The Strangers
- Se7en
- Paranormal Activity
This is because, Paranormal Activity is a significantly low budget film which was produced on a hand held camera, which is similar to our film. Also, the other films listed above also have the same type of thriller effects which are portrayed and conveyed in our media production opening scene.
Thursday 17 February 2011
Evaluation Activity 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product does not particularly represent any specific social group(s). This is because our opening scene comes under the 'thriller' category. A thriller is designed to put the audience on the edge of their seat and make them believe that there is more to the story than what is told. A thriller does not fit any specific stereotypes.
Common ideologies of the characters
In our product we decided to follow the common ideologies of the characters that are represented in our opening scene. For example, the scary figure is percieved as dark, mysterious and unknown. The group chose Amelia to be the unknown person in our film. Another ideology is that is commonly seen in people is that young girls are seen as petite, shy and thin. This has gave an advantage as to why the scary person will choose to stalk the two young girls, this is because they are so vunerable. The two girl characters that were used were me and Honor.
Our media product does not particularly represent any specific social group(s). This is because our opening scene comes under the 'thriller' category. A thriller is designed to put the audience on the edge of their seat and make them believe that there is more to the story than what is told. A thriller does not fit any specific stereotypes.
Common ideologies of the characters
In our product we decided to follow the common ideologies of the characters that are represented in our opening scene. For example, the scary figure is percieved as dark, mysterious and unknown. The group chose Amelia to be the unknown person in our film. Another ideology is that is commonly seen in people is that young girls are seen as petite, shy and thin. This has gave an advantage as to why the scary person will choose to stalk the two young girls, this is because they are so vunerable. The two girl characters that were used were me and Honor.
Evaluation Activity 1
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The Title of the Film
The title of our film is 'Sranger'. This is so that the audience automatic know that there is going to be an unknown person in the film, yet they do not know how this person is going to be percieved. The word 'stranger is not significantly long, yet gets straight to the point. This is to represent the main character, whom is a obviously a stranger.
A simple, bubble font is used for the titles. This makes it clear to read. As the outline of the writing is in white and the inside is in black, which clashes with the background this shows dull colours. The group have done this to try and make our opening scene look like a thriller by just looking at the title. Also, the white outline has slits in it, which incates there could be some scaryness within the film. It also indicates the mood change, due to one minute being happy and then next being extremely scared.
Setting/Location
All of the frames which our group used to create the opening our opening scene storyboard in the picture above are taking place in the 5 different locations which we had planned to film our opening scene in. These are:
- Bathroom
- Bedroom
- Stairs/Stairway
- Games Room
- Swimming Pool Area
The stairs, games room and the swimming pool area are all dark and eerie locations. This is because the thriller effect of the opening scene then starts to kick in. The group thought that this would create a tension which would relate to the genre of our opening scene; 'thriller'.
Props and Costumes
In our opening scene there were few props used, but these were:
- Toothbrush
- Blusher Brush
- Make Up (for stranger)
- Water
- Torch
These props were used to emphasise the 'thriller effect' in all situations. I feel that these props may have made our opening scene more successful because they related to the genre our group was trying to portray. Also, these props helped us to create tensions and the perfect atmosphere.
In our opening scene you can see a couple of different costumes. The costumes used are the Katie (me) and Honor. We wear casual clothes as we are planning to go out therefore, we do not want to portray any other effect than just two girls going for a casual night out. One costume which we used was for the stranger. We decided to give Amelia (disguised stranger) black leggings, a hoodie which she wore the hood up most of the time to hide her identity. To make this look even more visually effective, we decided to put black eye shadow on which looked rough and also backcomb her hair lots, so it had volume and made her look like she wasn't a wealthy human being. This improved the professionalism of our opening scene as our costumes were believeable which also created tension and atmosphere and made our opening scene merely successful.
Camerawork and Editing
The camerawork is steady however, I feel the group could of benefitted with a tripod to make the camerawork more balanced. The group tried to put in place three different camera angles as best as they could within the opening scene. These were:
- 180 Degree Rule
- Match on Action
- Shot/Reverse Shot
These shots and techniques helped us to create a more successfull, effective opening scene.
We used the software; 'Premiere Elements Pro 7.0' to our advantage by creating distorted, repetitive footage the conveyed the idea of a nightmarish dream/premonition, we furthered this idea by using transitions that represented this theme in order to create a successful, polished opening scene.
Storyline
The plot of our film is about two harmless girls who are getting ready for a night out. Disaster strikes when the electricity goes off and they notice something strange around the house. Katie them decides to go and put the electricity back on and check everything is ok down the back of the garden, but she sees something and quickly scarpers. The stranger then goes after her and Honor and this is the end of the opening scene. The opening scene sets the rest of the film up as the stranger is yet to go after the girls and play physcological games with their heads.
Genre
The genre of the film is thriller and it is set up in the opening scene by using a lot of conventions from any other thriller film. These are things such a physcological effects, scaryness, putting the audience on the edge of their seat etc.
Characters
The two characters Honor and Katie are introduced by just going straight into it by getting ready and chatting. However, Amelia (the stranger) is introduced or seen properly at the very end the opening scene, when she is about to go after the innocent girls. She is seen once before in the mirror of the bathroom, however this was a one second shot.
Special Effects
The group didn't really use any special effects apart from an effect called 'ghosting' which we used on the title credit to make it more of a duller picture, and also made the writing broken. This effect causes the footage to become blurred and distorted, creating a feeling of panic producing tension and atmosphere and making our opening scene more successful.
The Title of the Film
The title of our film is 'Sranger'. This is so that the audience automatic know that there is going to be an unknown person in the film, yet they do not know how this person is going to be percieved. The word 'stranger is not significantly long, yet gets straight to the point. This is to represent the main character, whom is a obviously a stranger.
A simple, bubble font is used for the titles. This makes it clear to read. As the outline of the writing is in white and the inside is in black, which clashes with the background this shows dull colours. The group have done this to try and make our opening scene look like a thriller by just looking at the title. Also, the white outline has slits in it, which incates there could be some scaryness within the film. It also indicates the mood change, due to one minute being happy and then next being extremely scared.
Setting/Location
All of the frames which our group used to create the opening our opening scene storyboard in the picture above are taking place in the 5 different locations which we had planned to film our opening scene in. These are:
- Bathroom
- Bedroom
- Stairs/Stairway
- Games Room
- Swimming Pool Area
The stairs, games room and the swimming pool area are all dark and eerie locations. This is because the thriller effect of the opening scene then starts to kick in. The group thought that this would create a tension which would relate to the genre of our opening scene; 'thriller'.
Props and Costumes
In our opening scene there were few props used, but these were:
- Toothbrush
- Blusher Brush
- Make Up (for stranger)
- Water
- Torch
These props were used to emphasise the 'thriller effect' in all situations. I feel that these props may have made our opening scene more successful because they related to the genre our group was trying to portray. Also, these props helped us to create tensions and the perfect atmosphere.
In our opening scene you can see a couple of different costumes. The costumes used are the Katie (me) and Honor. We wear casual clothes as we are planning to go out therefore, we do not want to portray any other effect than just two girls going for a casual night out. One costume which we used was for the stranger. We decided to give Amelia (disguised stranger) black leggings, a hoodie which she wore the hood up most of the time to hide her identity. To make this look even more visually effective, we decided to put black eye shadow on which looked rough and also backcomb her hair lots, so it had volume and made her look like she wasn't a wealthy human being. This improved the professionalism of our opening scene as our costumes were believeable which also created tension and atmosphere and made our opening scene merely successful.
Camerawork and Editing
The camerawork is steady however, I feel the group could of benefitted with a tripod to make the camerawork more balanced. The group tried to put in place three different camera angles as best as they could within the opening scene. These were:
- 180 Degree Rule
- Match on Action
- Shot/Reverse Shot
These shots and techniques helped us to create a more successfull, effective opening scene.
We used the software; 'Premiere Elements Pro 7.0' to our advantage by creating distorted, repetitive footage the conveyed the idea of a nightmarish dream/premonition, we furthered this idea by using transitions that represented this theme in order to create a successful, polished opening scene.
Storyline
The plot of our film is about two harmless girls who are getting ready for a night out. Disaster strikes when the electricity goes off and they notice something strange around the house. Katie them decides to go and put the electricity back on and check everything is ok down the back of the garden, but she sees something and quickly scarpers. The stranger then goes after her and Honor and this is the end of the opening scene. The opening scene sets the rest of the film up as the stranger is yet to go after the girls and play physcological games with their heads.
Genre
The genre of the film is thriller and it is set up in the opening scene by using a lot of conventions from any other thriller film. These are things such a physcological effects, scaryness, putting the audience on the edge of their seat etc.
Characters
The two characters Honor and Katie are introduced by just going straight into it by getting ready and chatting. However, Amelia (the stranger) is introduced or seen properly at the very end the opening scene, when she is about to go after the innocent girls. She is seen once before in the mirror of the bathroom, however this was a one second shot.
Special Effects
The group didn't really use any special effects apart from an effect called 'ghosting' which we used on the title credit to make it more of a duller picture, and also made the writing broken. This effect causes the footage to become blurred and distorted, creating a feeling of panic producing tension and atmosphere and making our opening scene more successful.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Audience Feedback Questionairre
Our group decided to do an audience feedback questionnaire. This was to meet expectations of the media main task and to also see what the watcher thought of our opening scene. The group decided to distribute ten of these to the people who had previous watched our film peice.
Question 1
After watching our film did you feel it met the conventions of a typical thriller film? Briefly explain why...
Question 2
After watching our opening scene do you think we have maintained a steady, professional use of the digital camera?
I personally feel that the results of this question was promising. A majority of the respondents selected 'yes', a few selected 'mainly' and then one person said 'no'. As Ellie (the filmer of the opening scene) has never filmed before with a camera then this is an extremely good result. However, before filming another peice Ellie could practise with a camera beforehand so she has some good experience of the shots, angles and balance.
Question 3
If possible could you briefly explain what you think will happen within the rest of the film...
Question 4
Do you feel the use of a soundtrack and sound effects has contributed to creating atmosphere and tension for our opening scene.
This graph shows that the majority of the audeince thought that the soundtrack helped to create the atmosphere however, for some people they felt that the soundtrack didn't help atall. This could be something the group could work on to improve.
Question 5
On a scale of 1 to 10 how successful do you think our opening scene is? (1 being poor and 10 being excellent)...
This graph shows what the audience rated ourmedia products. This was mainly between 5 and 6 marks. This shows that there is room for improvement, and this is something that the group could look to work on.
Question 6
Could you give the group some feedback saying what you like and what you don't like etc...
Question 7
How do you think we could improve our media main task opening scene?
Question 1
After watching our film did you feel it met the conventions of a typical thriller film? Briefly explain why...
Question 2
After watching our opening scene do you think we have maintained a steady, professional use of the digital camera?
I personally feel that the results of this question was promising. A majority of the respondents selected 'yes', a few selected 'mainly' and then one person said 'no'. As Ellie (the filmer of the opening scene) has never filmed before with a camera then this is an extremely good result. However, before filming another peice Ellie could practise with a camera beforehand so she has some good experience of the shots, angles and balance.
Question 3
If possible could you briefly explain what you think will happen within the rest of the film...
Question 4
Do you feel the use of a soundtrack and sound effects has contributed to creating atmosphere and tension for our opening scene.
This graph shows that the majority of the audeince thought that the soundtrack helped to create the atmosphere however, for some people they felt that the soundtrack didn't help atall. This could be something the group could work on to improve.
Question 5
On a scale of 1 to 10 how successful do you think our opening scene is? (1 being poor and 10 being excellent)...
This graph shows what the audience rated ourmedia products. This was mainly between 5 and 6 marks. This shows that there is room for improvement, and this is something that the group could look to work on.
Question 6
Could you give the group some feedback saying what you like and what you don't like etc...
Question 7
How do you think we could improve our media main task opening scene?
For the other questions we looked at all the answers and took them all into account. Obviously all the other answers were to do with people's personal opinions but many things were repeated, this gives us help as if we film another product we can use the answers to improve on certain elements.
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Final Scripting
Our final scripting was the once which the group has decided would be the best for our thriller film. This is what the final script looks like:
As you can see our main task scripting has quite alot of dialogue within it. This is because the group thought that it would be effective if the words of the characters could maybe scare the audience, and also put them on the edge of their seats. However, sound effects will be used to emphasise the scaryness of what is going on in the opening scene. When watching the footage back, we can see that by doing this we have easily made the tension build up and also only used sound effects and credits when necessary.
When watching the footage back it was clear that some scened needed re-doing to make the dialougue abit clearer and the lighting better. Therefore, we began to express characters more through actions, transitions and sound effects.
Once the footage had been edited and watched all the way through, we all felt shivers down our spines due to the physcological effect of our thriller film. By using dialogues, sound effects, transitions etc this has proven to pay of a success and work well with our groups chosen genre as well as including all of the camera shots and angles.
As you can see our main task scripting has quite alot of dialogue within it. This is because the group thought that it would be effective if the words of the characters could maybe scare the audience, and also put them on the edge of their seats. However, sound effects will be used to emphasise the scaryness of what is going on in the opening scene. When watching the footage back, we can see that by doing this we have easily made the tension build up and also only used sound effects and credits when necessary.
When watching the footage back it was clear that some scened needed re-doing to make the dialougue abit clearer and the lighting better. Therefore, we began to express characters more through actions, transitions and sound effects.
Once the footage had been edited and watched all the way through, we all felt shivers down our spines due to the physcological effect of our thriller film. By using dialogues, sound effects, transitions etc this has proven to pay of a success and work well with our groups chosen genre as well as including all of the camera shots and angles.
Film Editing
Before we uploaded our filmed footage onto the software 'Premier Elements 7.0', we had to conisder other factors that that would be included in the editing process of our opening scene.
Uploading Footage
To create and edit our film the group is using Adobe Premier Elements 7.0. This software isn't very complex therefore it is easy to use and allows the group to edit footage easily. However, the group have no other choice but to use this software because this is what the school has paid for us to use and also others are much more costly and complicated to use. The group feel that we know how to use Adobe Premier Elements considerately well and also can edit footage to the best of our potential.
Uploading Footage
To create and edit our film the group is using Adobe Premier Elements 7.0. This software isn't very complex therefore it is easy to use and allows the group to edit footage easily. However, the group have no other choice but to use this software because this is what the school has paid for us to use and also others are much more costly and complicated to use. The group feel that we know how to use Adobe Premier Elements considerately well and also can edit footage to the best of our potential.
The group are now ready to edit the footage which we have filmed. This was a simple process however I seemed to encounter a few problems whilst trying to upload the videos onto the software. As there were so many videos, the software took a long while to upload them and sometimes froze. This meant that one clip was uploaded at a time which would take up a significant amount time available which we have with this software, as none of the group have it installed at home.
Editing the footage was done by all of the group so that we all had a contribution in the matter. This means that we can individually express our ideas, make decisions together and produce a somewhat successful opening scene which the whole of the group are pleased with.
To start the editing process firstly Me, Honor, Amelia and Ellie deleted all of the film clips which were not needed. We did this by right clicking on the film clip and selecting delete.
Once all of the group had decided which of the videos were no longer needed, we could now start putting the videos together in order. This meant that the group could create distorted, repetitve shots. We are doing this so that the thriller effect of the film comes together and therefore makes the watcher into the opening scene. The distortion will produce a tense atmosphere which relates to the chosen genre of our group. This could make our opening scene more successful.
After we had put the film in order we could now start cutting bits out. We did by using the scissor tool. To cut something out of the media peice you had to drag to scissor tool along the timeline below the film.
Friday 4 February 2011
Storyboard
Below is the group's storyboard which we all put a contributed effort towards. I will deconstruct the storyboard so that it is clear to understand to the reader.
This is the title of our storyboard. We decided to add this to give an introduction to people who is going to do this, therefore they know who it is done by and can relate to other peices of my media coursework to make the storyboard more useful. We decided to to keep it simple using a plain white background with back writing therefore this can relate to the thriller film as it is dull and not bright.
This is the first scene of our groups thriller film. It shows honor getting ready in one room, whilst me in another. The reason the me and Honor have been put in seperate rooms is because it adds to the mysteriousness of being alone, and therefore not knowing what is going on.
This second scene is where the lights switch off. There is only a caption and no picture because nothing will be seen due to pure darnkess. However, I feel this storyboard could of been produced better by having a black background and the caption in white to add to the thriller effect.
;The thirs scene is where the scaryness starts. As I drop my toothbrush the lights in the bathroom switch off. The watcher then sees a figure in the mirror whereas the actor (me) doesn't see this. The watcher will then be on the edge of the seat because they know something that shouldn't be in the house is in there. Therefore, the watcher gets the feeling that something bad is going to happen.
This next scene is where me and Honor are having a chat in the games room. There is tension due to none of us wanting to go outside and check the generator, therefore me and Honor seem at each others throats and scared. This is an effect of a thriller film.
In the fifth scene I was too angry with Honor about not coming to check the generator with me that I went by myself. At this point it was dark and scary and I ran down to the swimming pool at the bottom of the garden.
As I was approaching the generator in one of the rooms at the generator I heard noises. I then ran back as I was scared. As I was alone I decided to risk running back to Honor. This is so that the audience knew that I knew someone was after me, which adds to the physologicsal effects of a thriller film.
In the last scene a hooded figure then appears at the door. This is when we know that Katie and Honor are in trouble. This film then ends here. Our group have decided to do it this way because it is a cliffhanger and it wants people to watch more...
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Filming on Monday 31st January 2011
The 31st of January was the last filming session that our group would have to finish our Media Main Task peice. The reason we left it so late to do our media footage is because members of the group unexpectedly had work and therefore the filming had to be withheld until a day where we could all make it. The group managed to film the rest of the footage within this time and worked this limit to our advantage due to getting more done.
The people who would appear in our media peice are three members of the group. They are Amelia, Honor and Myself. We decided to do this because we wanted to see what it would be like to film a thriller peice, and I feel that it would also add reality as we would be creative with our scenes due to putting into practice exactly what we wanted to do. Myself and Honor both played the two girls roles, whereas Amelia played the scary unknown person therefore she was disguised. Ellie was the person who did the sound effects and also filmed the whole peice.
At the start of the night we the group was making the last prepartions to the script, and also practising the camera angles; this was before we started filming our footage. The group also had to wait for the darkness to come as alot of the scenes which were shot were outside. This was to add a more mysteriousness to the thriller effect.
The people who would appear in our media peice are three members of the group. They are Amelia, Honor and Myself. We decided to do this because we wanted to see what it would be like to film a thriller peice, and I feel that it would also add reality as we would be creative with our scenes due to putting into practice exactly what we wanted to do. Myself and Honor both played the two girls roles, whereas Amelia played the scary unknown person therefore she was disguised. Ellie was the person who did the sound effects and also filmed the whole peice.
At the start of the night we the group was making the last prepartions to the script, and also practising the camera angles; this was before we started filming our footage. The group also had to wait for the darkness to come as alot of the scenes which were shot were outside. This was to add a more mysteriousness to the thriller effect.
Equipment used:
The equipment our media group used to film the Main Task was a Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG20 Camcorder. The Sanyo Duel Camera CG20 records High Definition video and up to 14 mega-pixel digital photos with 5x optical zoom. All of these features are contained in a convenient, upright design. Recording videos, shooting photos and accessing settings in the menu can easily be controlled with the user of the camera who will be filming our peice (Ellie)'s thumb. The CG20 easily fits in your coat pocket and makes sharing videos and photos via social networking web sites, portable video devices like IPod's, TV's and computers, easy.
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Target Audience - Thriller Film
The age of our target audience is around 16-25 years. This is due to 80% of the questionnaire samples being given out were students. For our film, this can be related to by the audience as our main characters are teenagers which provides a pathway for connection from the audience.
The gender of the target isn't as specific as age ranges or demographic classification however, it doesn't mean that it isn't important. For our film, our gender of the audience would be mainly females as there is two girls getting ready for a party although males may be attracted nonetheless. When the scary parts come in I feel that this is when the males will be most attractive. Our group researched into films which we thought were excellent thrillers and it showed that males enjoyed these types of films compared to females. For example, Jaws has a male user rate of 6.0 however, the female rate is only 4.3. It also showed that 18 to 29 year olds who are both male and female enjoyed the film more than under 18's. This is due to the 18 to 29 age group voted 6.4 and under 18's voting 6.0. Also, for Se7en males also rated the movie higher than females.
The majority of our target audience will be made up of students due to the age range. Also because of how around 80% of my thriller consumption research proved to be thriller fans. The interests of our target audience are demonstrated mostly by other thriller films which they like such as, Jaws, Die Hard, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. So this means means film reviews of our films which we have associated with our film are important, as shown above with the gender and age results I obtained.
The gender of the target isn't as specific as age ranges or demographic classification however, it doesn't mean that it isn't important. For our film, our gender of the audience would be mainly females as there is two girls getting ready for a party although males may be attracted nonetheless. When the scary parts come in I feel that this is when the males will be most attractive. Our group researched into films which we thought were excellent thrillers and it showed that males enjoyed these types of films compared to females. For example, Jaws has a male user rate of 6.0 however, the female rate is only 4.3. It also showed that 18 to 29 year olds who are both male and female enjoyed the film more than under 18's. This is due to the 18 to 29 age group voted 6.4 and under 18's voting 6.0. Also, for Se7en males also rated the movie higher than females.
The majority of our target audience will be made up of students due to the age range. Also because of how around 80% of my thriller consumption research proved to be thriller fans. The interests of our target audience are demonstrated mostly by other thriller films which they like such as, Jaws, Die Hard, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. So this means means film reviews of our films which we have associated with our film are important, as shown above with the gender and age results I obtained.
Scripting
Girl 1 – Katie
Girl 2 – Honor
Scary person – Amelia
Honor: you looking forward to tonight?
Kt: yeah, not sure what I’m wearing though! Shall I just wear what I’ve got on?
Honor: yeah babe! Me too then
(Lights go off)
Honor: oh err!
Kt: Not to worry babe happens a lot, they should be back on in a sec
(Lights back on)
(Honor’s blusher has gone, doesn’t think a lot of it)
Honor: (laughs) yeah
(Camera goes to towards Katie in the bathroom – she picks up the toothbrush)
Kt: put some music on honor
(Music comes on)
(Katie drops toothbrush, picks it up, then a scary person appears in the mirror. Lights and music off)
Kt: Oh, that don’t usually happen, don’t know why the music’s gone off!
Honor: OH MY GOD, I don’t like it.
Kt: its alright, we have probably just ran out of electric.
(Flash on and off again)
(Honor freaks out and runs downstairs to get a torch. Katie follows, both go towards the games room)
Kt: Got to go out to the pool, the switch is there, want to come with me?
Honor: oh I don’t really want to. It’s dark plus it’s freezing
Kt: well... One of use needs to, I don’t really want to but...
This is what we have of the script so far. As the script isn't done and the whole group aren't rarely available all at the same time then we haven't had chance to film the end of our media task. The final filming will take place on Thursday 27th January.
Monday 24 January 2011
Media Conventions and Audience Theory
Audience Theory
It is virtually impossible to go through a day without encountering media in some form. Some types of media are; radio, iPod, billboardsm television, films etc. We are an audience for all of the different types of media products. There have been fears that media texts could make their audiences react in different ways, e.g. becoming more violent. The audience can be easily manipulated to buy a product due to advertisement.
Media Conventions
Things that we would class as media are 'recent inventions'. The things we call media now would have been fantasies over a hundred and fifty years ago. The times which are spent with media are either on our own or im small groups. Millions of people across Britain or the world experience the same media event(s). The media has an unprecedented power to affect us in negative ways.
The Hypodermic Syringe - According to the theory the media ia like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a poweless mass have little choice but to be influenced - in other words, you watch something violent, you may go and do something violent, you see a woman washing up on TV. and you will want to do the same yourself if you are a woman. However, if you are a man you will expect the women to do the washing up for you.
The Cultivation Theory - Because of difficulty of proving the effects of individual media texts on their audience, a more refined version of the theory has been created called the cultivation model. According to this, while any one media text does not have too much effect, years and years of watching more violence will make you less sensitive to violence, years and years of watching women being mistreated in soaps will make you less bothered about it in real life.
The Two Step Flow - The idea of this is that whatever our experience of the media we will be likely to discuss it with others and respect their opinion, the chances are that we will be more likely to be affected by it.
It is virtually impossible to go through a day without encountering media in some form. Some types of media are; radio, iPod, billboardsm television, films etc. We are an audience for all of the different types of media products. There have been fears that media texts could make their audiences react in different ways, e.g. becoming more violent. The audience can be easily manipulated to buy a product due to advertisement.
Media Conventions
Things that we would class as media are 'recent inventions'. The things we call media now would have been fantasies over a hundred and fifty years ago. The times which are spent with media are either on our own or im small groups. Millions of people across Britain or the world experience the same media event(s). The media has an unprecedented power to affect us in negative ways.
The Hypodermic Syringe - According to the theory the media ia like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a poweless mass have little choice but to be influenced - in other words, you watch something violent, you may go and do something violent, you see a woman washing up on TV. and you will want to do the same yourself if you are a woman. However, if you are a man you will expect the women to do the washing up for you.
The Cultivation Theory - Because of difficulty of proving the effects of individual media texts on their audience, a more refined version of the theory has been created called the cultivation model. According to this, while any one media text does not have too much effect, years and years of watching more violence will make you less sensitive to violence, years and years of watching women being mistreated in soaps will make you less bothered about it in real life.
The Two Step Flow - The idea of this is that whatever our experience of the media we will be likely to discuss it with others and respect their opinion, the chances are that we will be more likely to be affected by it.
Camera Shots/Angles
Camera Angles
The three camera angle which my group will be focusing on in the main task is the 180 Degree Rule, Match on Action and also Shot/Reverse Shot. We have chosen these angles because they match the requirements and as we had practise at them in the preliminary task, we thought it would be relatively easy.
The three camera angle which my group will be focusing on in the main task is the 180 Degree Rule, Match on Action and also Shot/Reverse Shot. We have chosen these angles because they match the requirements and as we had practise at them in the preliminary task, we thought it would be relatively easy.
The first of shot which will be used is the 180 degree rule. This will take place in the bathroom where I am as I am speaking to the the other actor Honor who is in a different room. This will distuinish between me and the mirror in front of me. Ellie, the person who was holding the camera at the time had to pretend that their was an imaginary line between me and the mirror. She also had to maintain continuity as this line must not be crossed.
The next shot is shot/reverse shot. This is a film technique used to show one character looking at something off screen. Usually another character in a convrsation. Then the camera switches to another person that the original character was looking at. Since me and Honor (the actors for this scene) are shown facing in different directions , the viewer unconsciencly assumes that they are looking at each other. The scene has not moved the for shot/reverse shot and both actors are in the games room. This is a cold, dark place. This type of shot will really show how tense me and Honor are as the camera points straight at out faces of worry.
The last of the shots used is match on action. Match on action is cutting from one shot to another view that matches the action and the place of the first shot. This creates an impression of continuity although the shots may have been filmed weeks apart. If I was to begin an action in the first shot and complete an action in the next shot, a visual 'bridge' is created which acts to disguise the cut from one to another. A typical example of this is a car entering from one side of the shot and leaving and then appearing from the left again. In my group's main task, this is when I walk out of the door and Ellie film me from behind, and then the camera is cut whilst Ellie runs in front of me and then filming is resumed.
Shot Types
The Rule of 3rd's - This a compositional rule of thumb in photography. The rule states that the image can be divided into 9 parts by two equally spaced lines horizontally and vertical. The four points formed by the intersections of the lines can be used to align features in the frame. Users of the technique claim that aligning a photograph with the points creates more tension, energy and interest in the photo than simply centering the feature would.
Panning shot - Panning is the horizontal movment or the rotation of a camera, or the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or display device. Panning a camera is a motion similar of that to someone shaking their head 'no'.
Tracking shot - A tracking shot is also known as a dolly shot or a trucking shot. It is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform which is pushed on rails whilst filming or photographing. Tracking in on a stationary subject is used for emphasis, as is tracking out, and also tracking beside a moving subject. Tracking shots can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve. Trackers with hydrualic arms can also smoothly 'boom' or 'jib' the camera several feet on a vertical axis. However, tracking shots cannot include complex pivoting movements, arial shots or crane shots.
Dolly-zoom shot - The dolly zoom is an unsettling in-camera special affect that appears to undermime normal visual perception in film. The effect is achieved by using a zoom lens to adjust the angle of veiw (aka field of view) while the camera moves towards or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. In its classic form, the camera is pulled away from a subject whilst the lens zooms in, or vice versa. Thus, during the zoom, the subject stays the same, however the directly noticeable feature being in the background appears to change size relative to the subject. The effect was first developed by Irmin Roberts, a Paramount second-unit cameraman, and was famously used by Alfred Hitchcock in his film Vertigo.
Pedestal Shot - A pedastal shot means moving the camera vertically with respect to the subject. This is often referred to as “pedding” the camera up or down. The term comes from the camera support known as a pedastal. They provide a great deal of flexibility as well as very smooth movement, and have the ability to move the camera in any direction; left, right, up, down.
Tilt shot - This means that the camera is in the same position but tilts the angle of veiw up and down. It means that the camera is looking up or down at the subject in the frame, instead of being at the same level, as these are usually more dramatic than straight-angle shots. A downward tilt is usually used to observe a large area or oversee action, creating a kaleidoscope effect, making the subject seem less important. However an upward shot, creates an impression of superiority.
Crabbing Shot - A crabbing shot is basically tracking or dollying, however it is a side-to-side movement at a consant distance from the action or subject. It basically mimicks how a crab would walk along the beach.
Friday 21 January 2011
Locations
The locations of the filming will be in one of the group members house called Amelia. Firstly, we start upstairs where I will be in the bathroom and Honor will be in Amelia's bedroom. This is due to speaking to each other through different rooms as we are both getting ready for a night out.
Second location is the top and the bottom of the stairs. This is when Honor runs down because she is scared The pictures are of the top and the bottom of the stairs in Amelia's house.
The next location is in the games room downstairs after the creepy powercut has happened. As we are both spooked out this would be the perfect spot for filming as it is right next to the garden and also fairly dark in that particular room. This room is normally fairly cold and this would help the me and Honor as actors to make a better production as we may be rigid and stiff which adds to the scaryness of what is going on around us.
The filming then moves down the garden, when at this point will be pitch black and not a light in sight. At the bottom of the garden is a swimming pool with a roof over the top. This is where all of the scary things happen and therefore this is why we needed a creepy abandoned scene to make our film as thriller as we can get it. Having the swimming pool at the bottom of the garden means that we can add to the physocological effects of the watcher, by making them think that there is something/someone in or near the water.
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Questionairre
We decided to do our questionairre based on the thriller idea which is going to be the genre of our main task film. This is our questionairre which we handed out to twenty people in order to get ideas for our thriller film:
Question 2
This question was a sentence answer therefore it was impossible to put them into graph form. Also, everyone has their different reasons of the favouritism of genders therefore this is why we have decided to miss this question out.
Question 3
The look of the questionairre is easy to understand and also simple to answer.
When the questionairres were handed back to the group, we decided to put the answers into graph form.
Question 1
As you can see from the answers, most of the respondents chose Horror as their favourite genre of film. The results then show that thriller was the second most popular then romance, drama and sci-fi. As thriller was the second most popular this shows that many people will be into the type of film which will be making for our main task. Also, as many people like horror our group could decided to put a scene of horror in there, just for the watchers enjoyment. As no one chose the genre sci-fi then I feel that our group made the best decision by sticking with a thriller film. I feel that most people like thrillers because of the physcological effects. This could be by the hypodermic needle model as the messages of thrillers are directly recieved and wholly accepted by the reader therefore, they want to watch more of the film even though it scares them.
Question 2
This question was a sentence answer therefore it was impossible to put them into graph form. Also, everyone has their different reasons of the favouritism of genders therefore this is why we have decided to miss this question out.
Question 3
As you can see from the answers, most of the respondents chose physcological, the unknown and jumpy as their three things of what makes a thriller film. As these were the most popular these effects could be put into the film which our group are making to make it more appealing to the reader. Therefore, by using these three effects this could also be part of the hypodermic needle model as the message will be recieved and accepted. Also, as a few other of the effects were fairly popular then also these could be put into the film, but not play a huge part. For example, there could be a slight mystery, or a sign of the supernatural.
Question 4
The fourth question was 'What thriller film have you watched and enjoyed?' Most of the respondents chose the film Jaws. Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs came joint second and then Die Hard had the leat votes with with 4 people selecting this option. Wherever they are in the world, the audience for a media text are all recieving exactly the same thing however, some people respond differently to what they see than others, this is the audience at a mass. Most people maybe enjoyed Jaws because of the physcological effects of the thriller aspects on the watcher. The intensity of the shark waiting to be fed from the humans bones. If this is the case, the group could look into a way of putting something like this in the film. However, if their are too many of the above effects like in question 3, then our film can go over the top.
Question 5
For question 5 the group wanted to find out what the people who would be taking our survery thought made a thriller film. We decided to ask this question because this would give us an overall idea of what to do for our film, and how to add affects in which the audience would want to see and watch. Most people chose mystery, jumpy or confusion. Without a mystery a thriller film wouldn't be jumpy as there would be no tension. Also, mystery kicks in confusion therefore all of these aspects link in together.
Overall, I feel that the effects that will be in our groups thriller film is mystery, jumpy and confusion, also with a bit of physcological effects. We have decided to do this because these are most popular to the audience and they are the one's who may be watching our short film.
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Work So Far
So far we have decided the idea (genre) for our main task and have started to think of possible ideas that we could use for our film. We have designed our Audience Research Questionnaire and are in process of retrieving the answers. This will help use decide what the best ways to construct our film will be. It also shows what an audience are looking for in a thriller film and what will make our production more effective and interesting.
I have also deconstructed three openings of different genre of films. This will help me when it comes to filming our film as I am aware of the different techniques that can be used whilst filming and the ones that will be more effective for me and my group to use. It starts to give us all ideas about how we want to film ours.
I have also deconstructed three openings of different genre of films. This will help me when it comes to filming our film as I am aware of the different techniques that can be used whilst filming and the ones that will be more effective for me and my group to use. It starts to give us all ideas about how we want to film ours.
Deconstruction (Casino Royale)
This is the first image of the opening sequence. The man in the still clip is James Band who is pointing a gun at the screen. We can then see blood running down the screen, as if to say the camera was a person. Immediately the audience feels the amount of action which is going to be in the film. A gunshot is also is heard at this point in time therefore this also gives a clue that the action is going to be a significant amount.
The name of James Bong in real life is Daniel Craig, and this is the name which we see in the second still picture. This writing is surrounded by the symbols which are seen on cards. For example, clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. These symbols show the signs of gambling and also the 'casino' side of the film. This makes the audience know that the title reflects around what is going to be in the film as it has already come up in the opening sequence. 
This is the third picture and the title of the film is centered within it. On each corner is a pattern, which has many different colours and shapes intwined with it. The outer colour of the shape is red and has sharp points. This could show the action side of the film due to the red blood and the sharp shapes meaning they could cut and hurt.
The fourth image also has writing for the credits on it. The font and style of the credits are all consistent throughout the opening scene, meaning that Bond could be following in these footsteps. We also see Bond holding a gun, this again gives the reader a clue to the amount of action which will be taking place within the film. The winding lines could symbolise different paths which need to be followed.
The fifth picture shows lots of guns in yellow and orange. This makes them seem like they are happy things. Coming from the guns is the symbols of spades on a playing card. This shows us that there could be lots of action that will be taking place at the casino.
This image shows some of the action which takes place in the Bond scene. It shows somebody trying to attack bond with a knofe whilst he holds the enemy in a headlock and makes sure he is unable to escape. When Bond gets the knife the enemy falls and breaks into peices, this shows that Bond is harmful and will do everything in his power to get what he wants.
This shows a mans hand holding a gun. Coming out from the guns is lots of lines spirals in different directions. This could mean that this person might not be after just one person, but a few. The lines are in different shapes so this could show that sometimes in the film action is calm however sometimes action is very very violent.
This image continues the gambling theme with a playing card. However, it also shows a gun target and two gun shots in the card. This also gives a clue of what will happen in the film.
This is the last image of the sequence. It has a futuristic feel to it and Bond is standing in the middle with the card symbols floating around him. The style and colours of the font have remained consistent as have the theme throughout the opening. I feel that this is what makes it so effective.
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