Thursday 17 April 2014

Evaluation - Finished Film

This is the final, finished version of our films opening scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR4HYi93K_I

Sunday 13 April 2014

Evaluation - Self Evaluation - Rimoldeen Francis

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


Our media product uses a lot of different techniques that you would see from a real film. There are many effects and many factors that help our film compare to real international films. 

Our film was created like any film would be created. We all got together and formed different ideas and how the story should go. The story altered as we developed the script and the storyboard. The process in which we took to create this film is similar to the way in which a real film is created. We did not have high tech resources or equipment but the process was still the same.

Our media product use different camera shots and angles that a normal film would use. It allowed us the help emphasis the message and power structure that that was being conveyed to the audience. However we do challenge the antagonist character as position is played by a women. She seems to have the characteristic of a man. This is something that you would not expect from a typical horror film.

One example is the POV shot; this shot is commonly used in horror films to allow the audiences to be able to see what the character sees at the same time. This allows us to get the views engaged with the film and allow the story to flow smoothly.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?


We represented social groups as to how they would have been represented in society. They had the same characteristics and elements that will allow us to show the audiences that this particular character is from this region. This allowed us to target our target audience easily as we considered the different factors that we needed to consider in the social groups that we used.

Or film was based in the south east region of London. So we had to shoot the film in a location that would easily be able to generalized by everyone that it  was shot somewhere in a lower-classed area of London.


The characters that we uses reinforced different social groups that you would see in that area. First there was the girl who seem to have come from a poor background. Someone who had parent issues and was "abandoned". She was seen wearing simple bodywarmer and jeans that would not find expensive. You would consider this character to come from the lower end of society.


However both men wore superdry jackets and looked wealthy. They wore brand that could easily be recognised. They would have had a better upbringing then the girl and would have been from the richer end of the town.


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

We would distribute our film to YouTube first. This allow us to be able to get a small group of views that would watch our film. We will the get feedback from our views through the use of surveys and other research methods; then we can implement the suggestions and improvements into our film. The mistakes that we would of missed would be pointed out. We can the distribute out work to local theater and other industries. This was used when creating the beginning stages of out film as we took into account the views feedback.

However in the future we would plan to get our film to the local cinemas to generate publicity. This would then get us a bigger viewer base. We would then consider if the film is worth going international.


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

Our main target audience for our film is white teenagers. This target audience was chosen because of the genre that we based our film on. Teenagers love horror films and they loved to be scared. This was discovered after the research that we did before we started filming. We found that the the majority of the demographics that watched horror films were teenage boys and girls. By targeting this group it allows us to maximise the potential viewers that this film could be distributed to.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?


Many factors were considered when we thought about how we would attract our target audience. We implemented teenage actors into the film to allow the views to be able to relate. This will attract teenagers as they would be the ones int he position to be able to watch the film and compare to what would happen in their lives. Things that they may not be able to do in real like, they would see someone like them do it in the film.
Another way  in which we did this is by having the teenage male actor talk constantly about sex. This portrays a typical male teenager. Furthermore you can see that the girl is scared and does not want to proceed with what the man has demanded.

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

I have gained a lot of different skills through the different processes that we went through when we were creating this product. I have leaned many different techniques and software that you would need in order to create a successful film. 
One major program that took me a lot more time to figure out was adobe premier. This was because it was my first time using this program and i had no idea how to get the different tools working. however after i got the the hang of it it became easier to use. I learned different ways in which a film can be manipulated to convey a different effect. for example different fades can show a different messages; white showing hope and black showing death.
Another program that helped develop my knowledge and skills was celtex. This was a program that allowed us to be able to create scripts, storyboard and a catalog. I learnt that there was a particular way that the script has to be written.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?


I have knowledge of different media programs has expanded so much more. Particularly with the adobe premier, as i stated before i had no clue how to use the program and when i was creating my preliminary it took me a bit of time to get used to the program. Throughout the process of the film i have been using this program frequently and it has allow me to bind better and easier ways to do something that would of took me ages before.
I have also learned about different camera techniques that can be used in the film. when i was creating the preliminary i used medium shot, close up and extreme close up. however after a few days i learned about other techniques like high angle shot and low angle shots. furthermore i also learned abut different light techniques like high key and low key lighting.
I addition i was told when creating my preliminary to watch out for continuity and how it can cause many problems. however it was after we started shooting i found that if you make one scene different you would need to redo the whole scene. this would be very time consuming.

Evaluation - Self Evaluation - Ben Bingham

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

Firstly our media product used several techniques such as special effects like a normal industry film would. For example we used a black out when the girl is screaming, and straight to the POV shot.
We also used make up, such as the blood on the girls hands and face at the closing scene.
Like most horror films in the industry, we decided to start everything off normally and no issues, then as the story progressed, the dilemmas started to arise, and we also wanted to add a twist at the end.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The outcast loner girl, the snobby rich boy, and the normal but mysterious man are the three different social groups represented in the film. Young teenagers, upper and lower class, were represented in different ways:

-The two males both wore super dry jackets, an expensive clothing brand, this represented the young but fortunate secondary school/college students who came from a rich background and showed their status as they also both wore smart trousers and black shoes.
-The young woman was wearing a simple body-warmer and jeans, this was done to show she is not as wealthy as the men and a lower status to them, she is also not overly dressed like most teenage girls, to show she does not care and is perhaps an outcast.

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

I believe the horror media institution would be the most likely to distribute our media product such as Lionsgate (who distributed the SAW franchise) and 20th Century Fox (The Hills have Eyes). Horror film aims are supposed to frighten, perhaps sicken, and install fear into the viewer, that is what we aimed for in our own film and if we meet those objectives, perhaps one of these companies would distribute our media product.

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

After a considerable amount of time of research, i mostly likely believe that teenagers will be the majority of the audience for our media product. This is because teenagers love to be freaked out, and are at the age where dating is a popular trend, boys will take a girl on a date to see a scary movie; and groups of girls will go watch a horror film together to check out what the big fuss of the film is about. Middle aged people will not be as afraid, because they have matured and know that the film is all fake and less scary to them, whereas teenagers can be manipulated to believe the film is real.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

First of all, all the actors in the film were teenagers. This helped encourage teenagers to watch it as they are the center of attention. Also teenage boys are represented to an extent in Walter, they all want to have sex with a girl, encouraging teenage males to watch the film. L-R represents girls, who are less addicted and less wanting to have sex, and the story unfolds to what happens when the two finally collide.

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

I personally have learnt a lot about editing technology. Especially blackouts and how, if pulled off correctly, effective they can prove to viewers. I also learnt a lot about music and the whole idea of adding music to create tension just as something is about to happen in the film, and what type of music or sound to use at what time. Furthermore i have a better understanding of cropping certain scenes if they drag on for too long and making sure continuity is not disrupted unless wanted. In addition, Lighting is an important technology, low key lighting and high key lighting can change the mood, the tension, and the effect of what is happening on screen, a low key lighting in a room may suggest spookiness and mystery, and a high key lighting would represent a more happy, relaxed room, where danger is less likely to occur.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Without a doubt i have learnt about continuity and that it is very important in a media product. Our final product is a lot quicker paced and more action happening on screen than the preliminary task, we achieve a lot in a very small amount of time, events and conversations, and a story in two minutes. Back during the preliminary we had an understanding of lighting, but i think we definitely used it a lot more effectively in the final product, also we had no music to worry about in the preliminary, so i felt that we progressed with making tension in the scenes and getting a certain type of mood across to the viewers, the music conveyed fear very well i think. Editing was used in the preliminary in between the conversations, but nothing as advanced as black outs or special effects. Personally i have also learnt about media stories, and how to invent a story line and a twist in that story to shock and surprise viewers, it was a lot of fun to do.

Evaluation - Self Evaluation - Eric Chima

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

My media production incorporates various techniques that are also used in an industry standard film.

My film was produced similarly to that of a 'triple a' film. We went through various activities that helped us brainstorm ideas on what the film should be about and what techniques to use in it. Over the length of the course we put together a story board and formulated an appropriate script that would match our chosen genre and be appealing to our chosen demographic which are teenagers of both sexes.

Close up
Due to financial limitations we were not able to posses the advanced equipment like high quality camcorders but we were still able to incorporate a variety of camera shots and angles within the film. We used camera shots to convey messages and we also used professional software like première pro. A major challenge we cane across is that due to the limited budget we were unable to use powerful computers to encode our film, a consequence of this is that encoding our film took a lot longer than we would have liked and this took away time to spend on other things.

An example of this is the close up on the antagonists face which we did to create emphasis on the emotions of the character. This technique is commonly used in the industry especially in horror films to create emphasis.


2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Burberry Scarf
All characters in my film were white, in their mid teens and from the region of sub urban Essex . We took advantage of pre-existing stereotypes which allowed us to reduce the amount of character development needed. In my film white teenage males are represented as being "chavs" since the main antagonist is wearing a camo Superdry  jacket with a Burberry scarf which links to the popular stereotype that Essex boys are "chavs" and wear Burberry clothing. Chavs are known for being highly promiscuous and un reasonably aggressive and these traits are accurately if not a bit exaggerated in our film.
Ghetto clothing

As for teenage girls they are presented as being "ratchet" with a ghetto esque vibe. this can be seen in the clothing of the main female character since she wears a body warmer a common item of clothing associated with the working class population.


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

To distribute our film we concluded that publishing it on the largest online video sharing site in the world YouTube. We decided this because this would allow us to gain a small fan base which is an advantage since they would give us feedback in ways to improve our film. Another advantage is that it will help us reach our target audience easier since they are familiar with the site and that uploaded videos are easily shared across various social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

YouTube could also help us find investor who are willing to invest in our production group and this would help us as we could use the money to buy more expensive equipment and hire better actors.  With the influx of cash we could then create a full length film and move to the national cinema.

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

Our target audience would be white British teenagers as our research has shown that this demographic watches horror films in the cinema more often. By targeting this market we hope to maximize the viewership of our film. We also made our film more appealing to this market since all the characters are teenagers and are white British.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

We used social media to attract and address our audience. We primarily used Facebook the largest social media networking site in the world. We chose this method of advertising our film since it is free which is good considering our limited budget and it was also good since the majority of our target audience use this website.

We also made all the characters teenagers that would help the majority of our audience to relate to the characters and this would provide a greater sense of realism and depth and overall improve the viewing experience for our audience.

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

Over the length of the course I have acquired a variety of skills relating the process of content creation.
The most significant would be the editing side. the Majority of the editing was done on Adobe Premier pro and that entailed a steep learning curve I myself was not familiar with all the tools and effects the software included. Over time I familiarized myself with tools such as rolling edit which allowed smooth transitions between shots and the razor tool which allowed me to trim shots to the required length. I also learned how to create a ghosting effect by playing around with different layers and tweaking transparency.

Celtix was another technology I learnt how to use since it helped me create a correctly formatted script along with a story board and helped keep me organised with allowing me to create a master catalog which told me what to bring to each filming session.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My understanding in the field of film production has increased exponentially since my preliminary task.

I have become more aware about stereotypes and how they can help me film  since they save me time character developing and help appease my target audience more.  I have also become more proficient in using camera shots and angles to convey tension and emphasis and also aid in character development.

I can now manipulate various types of lighting in order to create various effects and I can distinguish between high and low key lighting and what each type of effect they each create.

In terms of editing I can now use each tool in premier pro efficiently and effectively which would reduce the amount of time I need to spend editing and create a more professional look for my film.









Friday 11 April 2014

Evaluation - Survey Monkey - Target Market Research

Here is our questionnaire, aimed at people who watched our opening scene. Please answer it.










https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_EditorFull.aspx?sm=UlUFmBAB8%2bEwpSQ5kqvi9%2fCQDOKXZjWc1H63e1ihn1s%3d

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRGNXPL

Thursday 10 April 2014

Evaluation - Facebook: Reaching out to Target Audience


Facebook Status Survey answer request
We put the survey review on the film on a social network site for customer feedback. Facebook, a free social network site would attract people to give us their feedback, it reaches out to our target audience as many teenagers use Facebook.

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Evaluation - Survey Monkey Results

This was the results that we got from the survey monkey questions.









Evaluation - Target Audience Research Summary

The audience liked :
The storyline
The characters
the twist of L-R surviving and being the real killer

The audience did not like :
The quick pace of the film
The random guy was a little unnatural

Possible improvements to make the film better :
Random guy had a better role instead of being curious and just unnatural
More actual horrifying scenes to make the audience jump

Changes to be made if we had to start this over :
Different role of alfie's character
More shocking scenes, perhaps even a different storyline

Friday 4 April 2014

Friday 7 March 2014

Evaluation - Who would be the target audience for your film?

The target audience for our film was chosen after the research that was conducted before creating our film. We found that there majority of the people who watch horror films were teenagers. Teenagers like to watch horror films with their friends to get scared. So our target audience for our film was British teenagers. This allowed us to be able to target the majority of the population that would watch that genre.

We thought of different ways in which we could target our target audience. One main way was to add teenage characters into the film. This allowed the viewers to be able to relate to film back to what they would be doing in real life and how their lives would compare to the characters in the film.



Another way was to relate the costume that the characters wore to the target audience. The two guys in the film wore superdry jackets. This is a popular brands within teenager and it is a brand that the audience would know. In addition each character matches a different social group, this allows us to be able to target teenagers in these different social groups. The girl is seen as a poor innocent girl with family problems. where as the guy is seen as being wealthy.

Lastly the the gender differences within characters and how each gender represented themselves in different ways. The guy to the right had the main intentions of having sex with the girl. This portrays the typical mail attitude towards women and what guys think of.
However the girl is represented as being terified and did not want to go through with what he guy had planned for them.

Friday 14 February 2014

Construction - Strengths

Construction - Camera, Editing and Stratergies

Construction - Weaknesses

Construction - Reflection 10

Eric did all of the editing which took 2 full days of his hard work to complete. Ben and Rimoldeen received the final sample of the film and agreed it was good to be the final film. As soon as we agreed, we begun discussing strengths and weaknesses we have had.

Strengths :
Not many bloopers from the cast.
Dedicated cast, and good actors (especially Walter).
Brilliant editing and direction skills shown by Eric.
Good lighting by Rimoldeen
Dialogue went well with the story to push it forward.
Everyone was reliable and did their part.

This is a screenshot of our podcast discussing the group and individual strengths.


Weaknesses :
Poor organisation, work all over the place.
Forgetting costume (THE BODYWARMER)
The weather changed on different days of filming.
Film was meant to be 2 minutes, we went over by 9 seconds.

This is a screenshot of our podcast when the group was discussing group and individual weaknesses.

Construction - Reflection 9

Today was agreed to be the last day of filming as the film was nearly complete. The scene L-R screaming was included since we had 8 seconds to fill in, we also re-shot two scenes of L-R and Walter talking, Walter having a more low angle shot, and L-R having a high angle shot. Finally the scene with the geezer running up the stairs and asking what was wrong, was re-shot and the dialogue changed.
This is one of the scenes that had to be re-shot of Walter speaking to L-R. Walter has a low angle shot.

Construction - Reflection 8

Today we filmed again, but only for a short time. The walking scene we had planned to shorten was shot, and we managed to cut it down by around 5 or 6 seconds, saving us more time for the film. Since we did not film too much, Eric edited the same night and showed Ben and Rimoldeen, we was not satisfied so told him to try again, he did and cut it down by another extra 2 seconds, and the both of them then confirmed the new scene and extra 8 saved seconds was very good for the film.

Construction - Reflection 7

The wall scene with all the cast was edited by Eric. The new film was uploaded onto youtube to get viewers opinions of the current state of the film, and we received good feedback, however the walking scene at the very beginning after the extreme long shot was very overstretched and did not need to be as long as it was.
This is a screenshot of the walking scene and was overstretched, and took up too much time.

Construction - Reflection 6

Today was successful for filming, we all met after school and went to the filming location, the scene with Walter holding L-R against the wall and the mysterious geezer asking if everything was okay was re-shot. Dialogue and shot angles were changed, with a low angle shot focused on Walter and him coldly remarking to "mind your own business", showing Walter as a dominant forceful character. The scene went well.

Construction - Reflection 5

Today was a day of editing, Eric edited the new extreme long shot and showed Ben and Rimoldeen, we were both satisfied and agreed we needed to re-film some scenes with Walter and the mysterious geezer as there was a small lack of continuity. Eric also edited into the current film the hands and face blood scene for the ending.
This photo is the finished and edited extreme long shot.

Construction - Reflection 4

The next day, was the third of filming. Fake blood was acquired and we attempted different ways of filming the hands and face scene with L-R. We also took a shot of Walter walking after L-R before he attempts to rape her. The shot was well taken and fitted in very well with the story.
This is the bloods on hands scene, finished and edited.

Construction - Reflection 3

Today was the second day of filming. We re-shot the extreme long shot for the beginning of the film, and this time the shot was not shaky and was very well taken. Due to the illness of one of the cast, filming was planned for a later date.

Friday 7 February 2014

Construction - Reflection 2

Editing:
Eric woke up and instantly went to his computer and edited for most of the day. He sent us a sample of the film which Ben and Rimoldeen liked, however we soon realised that the extreme long shot was very shaky, and would need improving on the second day we filmed. Also there were many situations were we could have incorporated different camera angles and shots.

Construction - Reflection 1

First day of Filming :
On our day first day of filming we went to Romford with our cast to begin filming the beginning scene. We had a very good start and managed to film a lot of the clips that were needed. The extreme long shot was also taken.


This is the first scene that we shot.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Construction - Making use of Theory

In our film, we have followed Torodov's theory of narrative.

1. At the beginning of the film, everything is calm and normal, a couple walking down the street is seen as a normal thing and there is still an equilibrium.

2. "An event occurs that disrupts the equilibrium", Walter advances on L-R against her will and rape and violence is attempted, breaking the equilibrium.

Since our film was only two minutes, the other stages of Torodov's theory could not play out, however if it had, this is what would have happened.

3. L-R and the mysterious "geezer" discover that they are similar and have a side of them that is a monster.

4. The both of them try to restore equilibrium by keeping their monster side away from the outside world, they both attempt to learn how to control it.

5. L-R and the mysterious geezer eventually fully command their monster side and swear to each other never to unleash it, the two end up becoming a couple, and the start of the film returns with the geezer instead walking with L-R instead of Walter.

Monday 3 February 2014

Construction - Torodov Theory of Narrative

Todorov is a Bulgarian linguist publishing work on narrative since the 1960s. He suggested that there are five stages in a narrative film.

1.The narrative theory of Todorov is that at the beginning of the film, there is an equilibrium and everything is balanced and defined in some cases as 'normal'.

2. An event occurs that breaks the equilibrium, or a problem arises.

3. The event becomes known to the main characters or Protagonist.

4. The disruption is attempted to be repaired and restore equilibrium.

5. The equilibrium is restored and there is a happy ending.

Monday 27 January 2014

Planning - Target Audience Research - Interview

We interviewed three random people in our school that suit the demographic, two being female, one being a male. We asked them about their current interests in their preferred thriller films. We collected their answers and reflected with what we discovered on our secondary research.

We asked the following questions:

How often do you got to the cinema?

Do you like watching horror films?

What do you like about horror films?

What kind of music are you currently listening to?

What would you say is the most aspirational tech company?


Monday 20 January 2014

Planning - Draft Work

PLOT

The film is about an epic tale featuring a girl named L-R who tries to come to terms with who she really is.  On the outside she looks like an socially awkward teenager with background issues, who's looking to live a normal life, but on the inside she has a ruthless alter-ego who takes pleasure in slaughtering anyone who opposes/threatens her. As the movie goes on, the amount of corpses pile up. L-R then embarks on a journey south to find herself and to finally but an end to the phantom menace that lies within her soul. Throughout her journey she meets many people and makes many friends and of course enemies.

With nothing but a shirt on her back, iron will and fire in her belly; she meets a stranger who accompanies her throughout her journey. Despite never meeting before they get on like a house on fire and even sparks of romance seem to fly when there within close proximity. She soon realises this mans true identity and intentions, now all the cards are thrown in the balance.

On her quest she discovers that she is part of the notorious Sanguis Bestia and that the blood line runs strong within her veins. She also finds out that her and the mans fate are somehow intertwined. With this new information she now knows that she is a natural born killer. Which side would she choose; continue living her life as a caricature or will she embrace her heritage and become one with the beast.