Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When we filmed out preliminary task, I knew very, very little about cameras and editting software. Althought now I wouldn't be completely confident about filming individually away from a group, I feel like I know a lot about how to film and edit. As a group, we progressed in the way that we can now easily think of a practical plot and are able to storyboard all of our ideas and work very easily.
The cameras we used weren't of the best quality but they were suitable for us as none of us had had much experience with cameras and they were relatively simple to use. The quality if camera also added to the enigma of our film as it was kind of shaky which gave a more realistic edge to the film.
I had also never used the editting programme before, so that was very new to me too. Its quite complex to use but once I'd gotten used to it, I found certain parts easy to pick up on, for example, the cropping and Ken Burns tools.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Evaluation Part Six
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The main programme we used to edit our film on was iMovie. We used this to edit the pictures that are shown right at the beginning of our film; the still pictures of the girls. At first, we just had all of the pictures, in full colour, coming up one by one on the screen, like a slideshow, at the end of our film. We then thought it was a better idea to show these photos at the beginning instead. We used iMovie to change the colour of the photos to a sepia ton and turned the saturation right down to make it look more like photographs. We thought the pictures still just looked like still video images so we used the Ken Burns tool on each of the photos. This tool allows you to pick a certain point on the picture and then slowly moves across the picture. This created the impression that someone or something is looking over the photos whoch goes with the following/stalking theme of the film.
The main programme we used to edit our film on was iMovie. We used this to edit the pictures that are shown right at the beginning of our film; the still pictures of the girls. At first, we just had all of the pictures, in full colour, coming up one by one on the screen, like a slideshow, at the end of our film. We then thought it was a better idea to show these photos at the beginning instead. We used iMovie to change the colour of the photos to a sepia ton and turned the saturation right down to make it look more like photographs. We thought the pictures still just looked like still video images so we used the Ken Burns tool on each of the photos. This tool allows you to pick a certain point on the picture and then slowly moves across the picture. This created the impression that someone or something is looking over the photos whoch goes with the following/stalking theme of the film.
Evaluation Part Five
How did you attract/address your audience?
We combined aspects of thriller and horror films to attract a wider audience and to create something thats not totally similar to either genre. This creates enigma not only for the storyline, but for the actual type of film that the viewer is watching. The audience have the horror factor to scare them but at the same time really keeps you thinking about what is going on in the film. This causes more tension and almost confusiion where the audience don't really know what to expect next.
We combined aspects of thriller and horror films to attract a wider audience and to create something thats not totally similar to either genre. This creates enigma not only for the storyline, but for the actual type of film that the viewer is watching. The audience have the horror factor to scare them but at the same time really keeps you thinking about what is going on in the film. This causes more tension and almost confusiion where the audience don't really know what to expect next.
Evaluation Part Four
Who would be the audience for your media project?
Horror/thriller films tend to have a big following from teenagers & young adults, around the ages of 15-22. Males seem to be more interested in these films than females do, but many girls are also big fans of such films. However, these type of films are also very popular with 25-30 year olds as they're a good way of reflecting their childhood as watching scary films is quite a popular activity amongst young people. Younger children and teenagers don't tend to like these films as they're less likely to realise that the film is not real and get very, very scared! Also, a lot of scenes in scary films are seen as not suitable for children under the age of 15. People around the ages we have chosen for our target audience also enjoy the adrenaline buzz that scary films give them and not many other age groups would enjoy this.
Horror/thriller films tend to have a big following from teenagers & young adults, around the ages of 15-22. Males seem to be more interested in these films than females do, but many girls are also big fans of such films. However, these type of films are also very popular with 25-30 year olds as they're a good way of reflecting their childhood as watching scary films is quite a popular activity amongst young people. Younger children and teenagers don't tend to like these films as they're less likely to realise that the film is not real and get very, very scared! Also, a lot of scenes in scary films are seen as not suitable for children under the age of 15. People around the ages we have chosen for our target audience also enjoy the adrenaline buzz that scary films give them and not many other age groups would enjoy this.
Evaluation Part Three
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A mainstream institution may distribute our film because the thriller/horror genre of films appeals to a big target audience and generates a lot of interest. For example, when new horror films like the Saw franchise and Paranormal Activity are ready to be released, there is often major advertising campaigns, on the radio, television and billboards which build up excitement with people. Scary films are also very popular because people like being able to see things they wouldn't normally experience in real life. They're seen as a form of escapism as they're often very unrealistic and make people appreciate their actual life after watching! If a film production company, like Columbia was to show interest in this film, they'd be able to put a lot of money into casting to draw further attention towards the film as they are a very successful company that can afford to pay the elite actors and actresses and are able to promote & distribute their films. Big actors and actresses also trust big film companies as they know they're good at producing good films that are popular with a huge amount of people.
Evaluation Part Two
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our film is a horror/thriller, we decided to use a girl as our main character as a lot of films from this genre use the traditional representation of females. This traditional view portrays girls as vulnerable, dependent and physically weaker than men, which fits the stereotypical role of victims in horror films, especially when females are used.
Although we used the more traditional view of females, we still incorporated modern day mis en scene into the film, such as settings and characters so people watching can find it easier to relate their lives to what they are watching. Not only will this make them more interested in the film, it also creates a more scary edge as it seems more realistic. We based our film inside our school as it is a very new building, which reflects the modern day lifestyle. Emma is shown talking to her friends and boyfriend, which are both traditional and modern representations of not just females but teenagers in general. We decided we'd keep the clothes casual, Emma wore jeans and a tshirt, as we thought more people would be able to relate to her than if the clothes she wore related to just one subculture. The character of Emma's boyfriend, Louie, also shows a traditional representation of males with the modern day mis en scene. We decided he should wear causual clothes too, but we put him in more sporty clothes to show him as a "cool" character, hence the reason he has a girlfriend. We also thought it'd be a good idea for him to wear headphones as this type of modern mis en scene shows today's technology. The stalker character who isn't seen in the film but is known through the use of the shaky handheld camera, comes across as the stronger, more powerful villain in the film. When people watched our video, the majority automatically referred to the stalker character as a male as the traditional representation of male & villains are powerful, aggressive and more violent than females.
As our film is a horror/thriller, we decided to use a girl as our main character as a lot of films from this genre use the traditional representation of females. This traditional view portrays girls as vulnerable, dependent and physically weaker than men, which fits the stereotypical role of victims in horror films, especially when females are used.
Although we used the more traditional view of females, we still incorporated modern day mis en scene into the film, such as settings and characters so people watching can find it easier to relate their lives to what they are watching. Not only will this make them more interested in the film, it also creates a more scary edge as it seems more realistic. We based our film inside our school as it is a very new building, which reflects the modern day lifestyle. Emma is shown talking to her friends and boyfriend, which are both traditional and modern representations of not just females but teenagers in general. We decided we'd keep the clothes casual, Emma wore jeans and a tshirt, as we thought more people would be able to relate to her than if the clothes she wore related to just one subculture. The character of Emma's boyfriend, Louie, also shows a traditional representation of males with the modern day mis en scene. We decided he should wear causual clothes too, but we put him in more sporty clothes to show him as a "cool" character, hence the reason he has a girlfriend. We also thought it'd be a good idea for him to wear headphones as this type of modern mis en scene shows today's technology. The stalker character who isn't seen in the film but is known through the use of the shaky handheld camera, comes across as the stronger, more powerful villain in the film. When people watched our video, the majority automatically referred to the stalker character as a male as the traditional representation of male & villains are powerful, aggressive and more violent than females.
Evaluation Part One
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film uses a lot of aspects typically shown in thriller/horror films. Although nothing is actually seen, at the end of our credits the main character (Emma) is seen looking shocked and scared as she finds out that someone has been following her. Eventhough nothing is actually seen happening to Emma, we used the same idea used in a lot of films from this type of genre, that a big part of the storyline happens at the very beginning of the film. For example, in the Scream trilogies, someone is always seen dying in the first part of the film and then the rest of the film is spent working out who the villain is and/or why they're doing it.
In most horror films, at least one person is killed straight away and its fairly obvious what is going on. We decided that to make our we'd take more of a thriller approach and created a sense of enigma throughout our film to keep the viewers interested. We felt that a thriller film would be much easier to recreate but would also look a lot better than a horror film, as we're able to use camera angles and different shots to create suspense.
We liked the idea of a handheld camera (Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project) as we think it makes the viewer feel like they're involved in the film which causes fear. We decided that the use of the shaky handheld camera would be a good effect to our film and straight away give an idea to the audience about what type of film to expect.
We mainly used female characters in our film which is what we found a lot of similar films do. We also used one male character, who played Emma's boyfriend to show the difference in representations of males and females. We used the still images of the girls at the beginning of our film to give a clue to the audience about what they're watching but without giving too much away and making the rest of the film seem predictable which would make the viewers lose interest. We used a similar idea for our opening credits as the opening credits in Se7en which uses a black background with white writing. The titles flash up between different shots very quickly. We decided to use a white background to make our film look a bit different, and we thought it was quite effective because of the brightness. We also used the flash idea, but only a few times in between the photos to put more emphasis onto the pictures rather than the credits.
Our film uses a lot of aspects typically shown in thriller/horror films. Although nothing is actually seen, at the end of our credits the main character (Emma) is seen looking shocked and scared as she finds out that someone has been following her. Eventhough nothing is actually seen happening to Emma, we used the same idea used in a lot of films from this type of genre, that a big part of the storyline happens at the very beginning of the film. For example, in the Scream trilogies, someone is always seen dying in the first part of the film and then the rest of the film is spent working out who the villain is and/or why they're doing it.
In most horror films, at least one person is killed straight away and its fairly obvious what is going on. We decided that to make our we'd take more of a thriller approach and created a sense of enigma throughout our film to keep the viewers interested. We felt that a thriller film would be much easier to recreate but would also look a lot better than a horror film, as we're able to use camera angles and different shots to create suspense.
We liked the idea of a handheld camera (Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project) as we think it makes the viewer feel like they're involved in the film which causes fear. We decided that the use of the shaky handheld camera would be a good effect to our film and straight away give an idea to the audience about what type of film to expect.
We mainly used female characters in our film which is what we found a lot of similar films do. We also used one male character, who played Emma's boyfriend to show the difference in representations of males and females. We used the still images of the girls at the beginning of our film to give a clue to the audience about what they're watching but without giving too much away and making the rest of the film seem predictable which would make the viewers lose interest. We used a similar idea for our opening credits as the opening credits in Se7en which uses a black background with white writing. The titles flash up between different shots very quickly. We decided to use a white background to make our film look a bit different, and we thought it was quite effective because of the brightness. We also used the flash idea, but only a few times in between the photos to put more emphasis onto the pictures rather than the credits.
Se7en
The film Se7en starts with an exteme close up of a opened book on a table, the camera is facing it from the side so it can take a couple of seconds to take in exactly what the picture is, which gives the viewer a slight sense of confusion right from the start.
Almost straight away, the titles start coming up on the screen in a small white font that looks nearly handwritten. The letters ysed are tall and thin and with the music used in the background, its obvious from the start that the film is going to be a thriller/horror.
The music used is very eery and creepy, which builds tension right from the beginning. As the credits go on, close ups of hands are shown working with metal objects, the music in the background is very scratchy at this point, like the sound of drills, which creates the impression that someone is making something.
The lighting used throughout the whole opening credits scene is very dark, only black and white colouring is used, with red occaisonally used for some shots.
More close ups are shown at the beginning, the music also goes with this as its still scratchy and almost sounds like writing.
A close up is then on the screen showing what is actually being wrote on the page and a black pen is shown crossing certain words out.
As the credits get closer to the end, the pictures on the screen speed up, at the same pace of the music which causes further tension for the viewer.
Images showing torture are also placed on the screen, quickly changing from one to the other in very flickery and flashing transitions.
Although its quite obvious from the opening credits that this film is a thriller, its still quite unclear what the film is actually about as the quick shots, flickery images and music creates enigma for the viewer. These factors all used together confuse the audience as it's not totally sure what is going to happen in the film and therefore, they won't know what to expect.
In contrast, Emma looked at Wild Child which can be seen here.
Almost straight away, the titles start coming up on the screen in a small white font that looks nearly handwritten. The letters ysed are tall and thin and with the music used in the background, its obvious from the start that the film is going to be a thriller/horror.
The music used is very eery and creepy, which builds tension right from the beginning. As the credits go on, close ups of hands are shown working with metal objects, the music in the background is very scratchy at this point, like the sound of drills, which creates the impression that someone is making something.
The lighting used throughout the whole opening credits scene is very dark, only black and white colouring is used, with red occaisonally used for some shots.
More close ups are shown at the beginning, the music also goes with this as its still scratchy and almost sounds like writing.
A close up is then on the screen showing what is actually being wrote on the page and a black pen is shown crossing certain words out.
As the credits get closer to the end, the pictures on the screen speed up, at the same pace of the music which causes further tension for the viewer.
Images showing torture are also placed on the screen, quickly changing from one to the other in very flickery and flashing transitions.
Although its quite obvious from the opening credits that this film is a thriller, its still quite unclear what the film is actually about as the quick shots, flickery images and music creates enigma for the viewer. These factors all used together confuse the audience as it's not totally sure what is going to happen in the film and therefore, they won't know what to expect.
In contrast, Emma looked at Wild Child which can be seen here.
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