1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- In our film we aimed to create extreme enigma so that the audience would be constantly wondering what was happening and why, making them want to watch more. We did this by not using any diegetic or ambient sounds so they could only use visual aid to establish where they were. We only had a soundtrack which created contrapuntal/parallel music to the film.
-When we saw the opening sequence for Seven we remarked on the clever use of enigma in it and wanted to use the idea of it. Where they created enigma with props, such as the book and film roll, we created it with the characters.
- Before beginning our project we each individually researched thriller films so we could gain knowledge on how thriller's are constructed and forms and conventions of a thriller.
-We partially his their faces deliberately so that the audience would be wondering who they were and what they were doing. We did this using ambient lighting.
- A convention we used of a thriller was editing where we put together fairly slow cuts where we had long shots. This will hopefully provoke the audience to think a little at what they are watching and perhaps give it some significance to them. With our titles we decided to use the back drop of our bonfire as shown in frame 6 and 9.
-We used some quick cuts to build tension when the characters were meeting but we also used extended cuts to show how time has passed.
- A typical convention of a thriller is the 3 stages of narrative; normality, disruption and resolution. However because we are simply doing an opening we could not incorporate this in our film.
- We used lighting to help convey an element of sinister behaviour, we constantly had a dark setting, apart from when he leaves the police station as he has then not fully become a cult member. As the story progresses the shots get darker and we can visualize the changes the policeman is going through.
- Another convention we used is camera-work, which is one of the fundamentals of any film. We had shots where camera-work would convey meaning of what the character is feeling, such as when he puts the mask on in frame 7, we have a close up to show that he is troubled and what he is doing isn't an easy decision.
- Another key convention is the use of setting. We picked our setting's carefully (despite having many difficulties) so as to make sure we created the right feel for the audience. We wanted to make sure it was dark so that the characters identities remained hidden, thus creating enigma. The scene with the bonfire and putting on the mask was filmed in the woods because it creates a dark and sinister feel such as in frame 5. We started out at the police station as it is a safe environment and makes the audience feel at ease. Then by moving to the church, frame 4, moving on to the train scene in frame 2 and 3 and then ultimately the most rural area - the woods - we show how the character is making a metaphorical journey.
- When it came to costume, we made sure that the policeman started off in police uniform so the audience could understand who he was such as in frame 1. The only other costume we thought about greatly was the masks, the policeman needed to have a half mask to show he was torn between the 2 sides of his life - policeman and cultist. The other cult members needed to have full masks to show how they are full members
2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
- We decided as a group that it would be best to use characters that represented the social group we wanted to represent - young females and males. This would mean the audience would feel empathy with the characters and connect with them better.
- The first thing we noticed when thinking about gender representation in our film that our protagonist was a male. We did not deliberately choose this because he was male, simply because we was a willing actor in our group and for the sake of convenience he was easier to work with rather than relying on an outside actor. Our protagonist is portrayed as a typical male; short hair, dark clothes and no make up. This suggests he is not concerned about his appearance and he represents the traditional, stereotypical male. He is also portrayed as a professional worker, suggesting he is the main money earner and that he is important as well.
- Throughout the rest of the film, female characters are introduced and a further 3 male characters introduced. We tried to represent characters equally but it was a challenge to find actors that were willing to confer to our schedule and we did not have many different people at our disposal. In the bonfire scene, they are represented equally and no one extra has an extended length of time in front of the camera.
- It was to represent age equally in our film as once again we did not have extras at our disposal. For example, our policeman would have been ideally a middle aged person but he had to use a male teenager instead. However as our target audience was young persons using a teenager may have been good for our audience to empathize with.
3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
- There are many different ways in which we could distribute our film such as cinema, internet, film festivals, DVD and VHS, and television. Releasing our film on these media platforms would require careful planning and months of research but if proved successful it could really release our film.
- If we chose to advertise and promote using the internet we use websites such as Youtube, Facebook and Transparent Blog. This would enable us to as well as promote our film but also interact with them as every member of our group is 'internet wise' and spend time on the internet. By making our video viral we would be able to get our friends to send it on and post it on a variety of websites. They can review it together and comment on it on various different blogs.
- To distribute using cinema, we would have to decide whether our film would be suited for mainstream cinemas such as Cineworld and Odeon or whether to promote our film at local cinemas such as the Orion in Burgess Hill. If we went mainstream there would be severe competition but we would have attracted the attention of the general public. Local cinemas would provide little competition but there would be little interest from public. We would also have to take in account the BBFC rating system which may repel some audiences.
- Choosing to distribute through TV would provide a wide audience as there we could show it on channels such as BBC and also Sky. This would provide a cheap option for those who do not wish to pay money for films. Some TV channels may not be prepared to buy the film rights of our film as we are a small time film. However channels such as Film4 and 5* offer small time films a chance to show their worth. Sky would be a less preferred option as many people are not prepared to pay money for Sky Movies.
- Choosing to distribute through DVD would mean wide distribution in retail stores and wide advertising. However there would also be production costs and also advertising costs. People may not be prepared to buy a DVD from a small time film.
4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
- In order to establish an age group we conducted a survey of 20 people to rate our opening out of 5. We had an age range of 12-15, 16-25, 26-40 and 40+ with 10 males and 10 females. This was to try and cover the all the demographics. Below are the results:
Gender:
Out of 10 males, 80% rated it 4-5 and 20% rated it 1-3. The majority of males enjoyed our film meaning it appealed to them. Out of 10 females 50% rated it 4-5 and 50% rated it 1-3. This shows that females enjoyed it less than the men, possibly because we had male protagonist.
Age:
In the 12-15 age group 60% rated 4-5 and 40% 1-3. Showing that little over had thoroughly enjoyed the film which maybe because there were older teenagers in the film. In the 16-25 age group 80% rated 4-5 and 20% 1-3. This shows the majority enjoyed the film, probably because this was our target audience. In the 26-40 age group 80% rated 4-5 and 20% 1-3. this shows that they have similar taste to the 16-25 age group and appealed to them. In the 40+ age group 100% rated 4-5 and 0% 1-3. It is to be noted that there was only one person in the 40+ range as it was difficult to get hold of an outsider in this age range.
-To conclude from our results we found out that the demographic that enjoyed our film the most was the 16-25 males. This could be because of the strong male presence in the film and that we directed it at that specific age range.
5 - How did you attract / address your audience?
- To attract our audience we spent a long time thinking about the storyline and what the audience would want from us. We had many ideas including a gang themed filmed, war film and a kidnapping film. When we came up with the cult themed film we all enjoyed the idea of making a mysterious film where we could hide the characters identity. during our research we saw many shots we wanted to use as well such as in V for Vendetta when he puts on the mask PoV. We tried this shot but established it didn't really work for our type of film. We wanted to keep our audience guessing what is going to happen and we did this by using the concept of a mask.
6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
For recording click here
Here is the corresponding script:
7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the
progression from it to the full product?
Editing:
- We struggled with the editing as we had limited skills and they had not been fully developed. There were a few continuity errors which were fairly noticeable such as the handkerchief moving positions in frame 7. We also had very long shots, especially in the corridor scene in frames 2 and 3. These slowed down the pace of the film where we wanted it to be high tension. We also had a quality problem with the camera and the picture turned out distorted in the final video. we changed this in our recent project by using HD cameras.
Sound:
- Our soundtrack was very basic and in the end did not create the kind of genre we wanted to give off. The main reason for this was because it was contrapuntal and not parallel which did not work with the storyline. There were also a few cliché sounds such as the scream and police sirens which made it sound as if it was a little rushed at the end such as in frame 1.
Camera-work:
- In our preliminary we used basic camera-work and we were not very adventurous. We only had basic pans and zooms and did not have any ambitious shots. In our recent project we were a lot more daring and pulled off some really nice shots. We also had a focus problem in the very last shot where the face went out of focus which made it look unprofessional.
Mise en scene:
- We used very little props, although the handkerchief we used ended up working really well. We also had a few problems with setting and we could find the right setting for a long time. This took up valuable time and we had to re-shoot a lot of our film because of it. We also did not use any lighting which is evident in our film. If we had used lighting I believe our shots could have looked a lot better and more professional. We learned from this in our recent piece where we used lighting to convey multiple meanings.
-When we saw the opening sequence for Seven we remarked on the clever use of enigma in it and wanted to use the idea of it. Where they created enigma with props, such as the book and film roll, we created it with the characters.
9 frames I have chosen to refer to
- Before beginning our project we each individually researched thriller films so we could gain knowledge on how thriller's are constructed and forms and conventions of a thriller.
-We partially his their faces deliberately so that the audience would be wondering who they were and what they were doing. We did this using ambient lighting.
- A convention we used of a thriller was editing where we put together fairly slow cuts where we had long shots. This will hopefully provoke the audience to think a little at what they are watching and perhaps give it some significance to them. With our titles we decided to use the back drop of our bonfire as shown in frame 6 and 9.
-We used some quick cuts to build tension when the characters were meeting but we also used extended cuts to show how time has passed.
- A typical convention of a thriller is the 3 stages of narrative; normality, disruption and resolution. However because we are simply doing an opening we could not incorporate this in our film.
- We used lighting to help convey an element of sinister behaviour, we constantly had a dark setting, apart from when he leaves the police station as he has then not fully become a cult member. As the story progresses the shots get darker and we can visualize the changes the policeman is going through.
- Another convention we used is camera-work, which is one of the fundamentals of any film. We had shots where camera-work would convey meaning of what the character is feeling, such as when he puts the mask on in frame 7, we have a close up to show that he is troubled and what he is doing isn't an easy decision.
- Another key convention is the use of setting. We picked our setting's carefully (despite having many difficulties) so as to make sure we created the right feel for the audience. We wanted to make sure it was dark so that the characters identities remained hidden, thus creating enigma. The scene with the bonfire and putting on the mask was filmed in the woods because it creates a dark and sinister feel such as in frame 5. We started out at the police station as it is a safe environment and makes the audience feel at ease. Then by moving to the church, frame 4, moving on to the train scene in frame 2 and 3 and then ultimately the most rural area - the woods - we show how the character is making a metaphorical journey.
- When it came to costume, we made sure that the policeman started off in police uniform so the audience could understand who he was such as in frame 1. The only other costume we thought about greatly was the masks, the policeman needed to have a half mask to show he was torn between the 2 sides of his life - policeman and cultist. The other cult members needed to have full masks to show how they are full members
2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
- We decided as a group that it would be best to use characters that represented the social group we wanted to represent - young females and males. This would mean the audience would feel empathy with the characters and connect with them better.
- Throughout the rest of the film, female characters are introduced and a further 3 male characters introduced. We tried to represent characters equally but it was a challenge to find actors that were willing to confer to our schedule and we did not have many different people at our disposal. In the bonfire scene, they are represented equally and no one extra has an extended length of time in front of the camera.
- It was to represent age equally in our film as once again we did not have extras at our disposal. For example, our policeman would have been ideally a middle aged person but he had to use a male teenager instead. However as our target audience was young persons using a teenager may have been good for our audience to empathize with.
3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
- There are many different ways in which we could distribute our film such as cinema, internet, film festivals, DVD and VHS, and television. Releasing our film on these media platforms would require careful planning and months of research but if proved successful it could really release our film.
- If we chose to advertise and promote using the internet we use websites such as Youtube, Facebook and Transparent Blog. This would enable us to as well as promote our film but also interact with them as every member of our group is 'internet wise' and spend time on the internet. By making our video viral we would be able to get our friends to send it on and post it on a variety of websites. They can review it together and comment on it on various different blogs. 
- To distribute using cinema, we would have to decide whether our film would be suited for mainstream cinemas such as Cineworld and Odeon or whether to promote our film at local cinemas such as the Orion in Burgess Hill. If we went mainstream there would be severe competition but we would have attracted the attention of the general public. Local cinemas would provide little competition but there would be little interest from public. We would also have to take in account the BBFC rating system which may repel some audiences.
- Choosing to distribute through TV would provide a wide audience as there we could show it on channels such as BBC and also Sky. This would provide a cheap option for those who do not wish to pay money for films. Some TV channels may not be prepared to buy the film rights of our film as we are a small time film. However channels such as Film4 and 5* offer small time films a chance to show their worth. Sky would be a less preferred option as many people are not prepared to pay money for Sky Movies.
- Choosing to distribute through DVD would mean wide distribution in retail stores and wide advertising. However there would also be production costs and also advertising costs. People may not be prepared to buy a DVD from a small time film.
4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
- In order to establish an age group we conducted a survey of 20 people to rate our opening out of 5. We had an age range of 12-15, 16-25, 26-40 and 40+ with 10 males and 10 females. This was to try and cover the all the demographics. Below are the results:
Gender:
Out of 10 males, 80% rated it 4-5 and 20% rated it 1-3. The majority of males enjoyed our film meaning it appealed to them. Out of 10 females 50% rated it 4-5 and 50% rated it 1-3. This shows that females enjoyed it less than the men, possibly because we had male protagonist.
Age:
In the 12-15 age group 60% rated 4-5 and 40% 1-3. Showing that little over had thoroughly enjoyed the film which maybe because there were older teenagers in the film. In the 16-25 age group 80% rated 4-5 and 20% 1-3. This shows the majority enjoyed the film, probably because this was our target audience. In the 26-40 age group 80% rated 4-5 and 20% 1-3. this shows that they have similar taste to the 16-25 age group and appealed to them. In the 40+ age group 100% rated 4-5 and 0% 1-3. It is to be noted that there was only one person in the 40+ range as it was difficult to get hold of an outsider in this age range.
-To conclude from our results we found out that the demographic that enjoyed our film the most was the 16-25 males. This could be because of the strong male presence in the film and that we directed it at that specific age range.
5 - How did you attract / address your audience?
- To attract our audience we spent a long time thinking about the storyline and what the audience would want from us. We had many ideas including a gang themed filmed, war film and a kidnapping film. When we came up with the cult themed film we all enjoyed the idea of making a mysterious film where we could hide the characters identity. during our research we saw many shots we wanted to use as well such as in V for Vendetta when he puts on the mask PoV. We tried this shot but established it didn't really work for our type of film. We wanted to keep our audience guessing what is going to happen and we did this by using the concept of a mask.
6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
For recording click here
Here is the corresponding script:
In doing this project for coursework, I have developed necessary skills to complete it related to film. These include camera’s and the equipment needed to use them, editing and audio software such as FinalCutPro and LogicPro and camerawork.
Editing was a key feature to our film and helped us create the theme and genre we wanted. To create our title we used a programme called Sony Vegas after much research on the internet on how to create the best titles with what programme. We also chose it as it offered a better range of titles than other programmes that were available to us and a member of our team was confident in using it. For our sound we used LogicPro as it offered the best features best suited to our film. We chose this over the preferred GarageBand as it was more useful to the type of sound we were doing – simply a soundtrack. A member of our team also had a fair amount of experience with the programme. When editing the movie, we used FinalCutPro as we all had decent knowledge in using the software and it offered the best range of features. It also was most compatible with the Macs we were using, as iMovie was a little slow and crashed often.
A key skill we learnt was how to use a camera in a film situation. We had gained previous experience of this when we shot our preliminary task and used some skills from that and also learned from our mistakes. We had to make sure we used the same type of camera to ensure the picture remained the same standard of quality. When he shot our locker room scene the first time we used a lower resolution camera and the difference was so noticeable compared to our other shots which were filmed with a Sony HD camera, we had to re-film using the Sony HD camera.
A tripod was a key piece of equipment that went with our camera and without it our film would have looked unprofessional or given off the wrong kind of theme we wanted. We shot the majority of our shots with the tripod so we had smooth pans and tilts and other movements. A shot where we didn’t use the tripod was the shot of the pan round the bonfire where we simply hand-held it and walked around.
Lighting was also key in ensuring we had the best possible shot we could. We had two different types of lights available to us, the portable ones and the spotlights. For the purpose of our project we used the portable lights as we had most of our scenes in rural areas plus they gave off the most naturalistic light. The portable lights also came with a set of filters to help create a certain mood of lighting. This was very useful to us and we used these frequently. We wanted to create darkness with our light, which can be seen when we shoot the policeman putting on his mask, the light looks natural and like moon light.
All the skills i have learnt over the course over the teaching period benefitted greatly when it came to the coursework project and i believe our group has used these skills effectively.
7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the
progression from it to the full product?
9 frames I have chosen to refer to
Editing:
- We struggled with the editing as we had limited skills and they had not been fully developed. There were a few continuity errors which were fairly noticeable such as the handkerchief moving positions in frame 7. We also had very long shots, especially in the corridor scene in frames 2 and 3. These slowed down the pace of the film where we wanted it to be high tension. We also had a quality problem with the camera and the picture turned out distorted in the final video. we changed this in our recent project by using HD cameras.
Sound:
- Our soundtrack was very basic and in the end did not create the kind of genre we wanted to give off. The main reason for this was because it was contrapuntal and not parallel which did not work with the storyline. There were also a few cliché sounds such as the scream and police sirens which made it sound as if it was a little rushed at the end such as in frame 1.
Camera-work:
- In our preliminary we used basic camera-work and we were not very adventurous. We only had basic pans and zooms and did not have any ambitious shots. In our recent project we were a lot more daring and pulled off some really nice shots. We also had a focus problem in the very last shot where the face went out of focus which made it look unprofessional.
Mise en scene:
- We used very little props, although the handkerchief we used ended up working really well. We also had a few problems with setting and we could find the right setting for a long time. This took up valuable time and we had to re-shoot a lot of our film because of it. We also did not use any lighting which is evident in our film. If we had used lighting I believe our shots could have looked a lot better and more professional. We learned from this in our recent piece where we used lighting to convey multiple meanings.
