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Evaluation

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

Our film does comply with conventions of film. I think that it is important because it is mainly the conventions that attract people to these types of films. The genre of our film (Psychological Thriller) is not one of the frequently released genres, yet it still has a large fan base. This means that we need to still attract the fan base by using conventions of the genre but we also needed to make the film original. I think we have managed to do this by using split screens which are rarely used in films.
We have used the convention of having a character with mental health problems. I think that this is a convention of the genre because it is open to interpretation and can be manipulated to link with other conventions, for example Murder. We have linked the mental health problems of our character with her substance abuse, which is another convention of the genre.
We have not complied with all of the conventions. This is because we wanted our film to be original, which is important because we want to make something the audience hasn’t already seen. For this reason we have left out conventions, (e.g. Ghosts) which in my opinion have become over done, leaving the film unoriginal and even boring. This would not attract people to see our film.
We have tried to develop conventions by making one that is not used in many films- our split screen scenes. This is to make our film stand out from the rest of the films in the genre. It would also give the audience more to look at in each frame which would make them more engaged in the film which. I hope, will make the movie more exciting.


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

Our product shows the polar opposite of teenage people. The boy character is seen as a nice, sensible person who is seen visiting a grave. This shows that he is thoughtful and loving, as he is still visiting a grave years after the persons death. He is also seen buying flowers, which may suggest that he is a romantic. The girl, however, is completely different. She is seen drunk, staggering across roads, completely unaware of her surroundings. This shows that she is a “typical boozy teen” that is often portrayed in the newspapers e.c.t. Her costume is scruffy compared to the boys, which suggests that she is of a lower economic class than him This may portray the stereotype of lower economic class members, suggesting to the audience that all teenage girls of a low class group, binge drink to a point where they are so unaware of there surroundings they walk in front of a moving car. The boy could represent the middle classes as he is seen wearing a suit, however this is a typical stereotypical view which may offend people.


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

I do not think that our film will attract high profile Hollywood film companies e.g. Universal, because they do not specialise in low budget films as they are mainly looking for a large profit, which small films usually do not make. Therefore I will be looking for my film to be produced by a small English film company e.g. The Oxford Film Company. I have chosen this company in particular because of its links to film four which makes our film more likely to be viewed by people, at home, on the television. They also support English films as they are hoping to raise English film profiles throughout the world and are making the way for breakthrough acts.


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

The target audience for our film are people aged from 16-24. This is because it is the main group of people who watch films and it is the main fan base of our genre- psychological thrillers. We could not lower the age of our target audience because we are aiming for our film to be rated 15. Therefore if the age our target audience was below this certificate our film would be less successful because they would not be able to watch it.


5. How did you attract your audience?

We noticed that there hadn’t been many psychological thrillers released recently and that there was not a lack of demand for a product of this genre. We then thought that we should come up with a film of this genre and that we should make our film original to make it stand out from the other films that have been made in the past. Because this genre is rarer than other genres, there is a larger demand for the film, so the type of film itself will attract the audience to watch it.


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

During the process of making our film I have learnt to use several different technologies. I hadn’t used this type of camera prior to filming, so it took a while to figure out what I had to do to get the desired end product. After filming we had to edit, which was also something we had never done before. The software was very difficult to use and it took a long time before we could edit properly, using the right effects to match the mood we were trying to set. Trying to edit was also very time consuming before we found easier ways of getting the same product, which required trial and error. I could have learnt more if our supplies were not limited e.g. if we had access to proper lighting.
I have also become more competent using blogs which is something I have never done before this project. I also had to upload and embed videos off of http://www.youtube.com/ which is something I also haven’t done before, as I only used to use YouTube to watch videos.


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

I think that I have learnt how to become more efficient at editing, which was very useful as less time was wasted and more was spent reshooting and improving our end product. I also think that I have learnt to improve a video, where as before (in the preliminary) if I didn’t like it I would want to change the entire film rather than just some scenes. I have also realised the importance of overshooting. If some scenes were of poor quality in our preliminary, we did not film enough to replace them. This caused us many problems and ended up wasting alot of time. Therefore in our main task we over shot every scene just incase the lighting, for example, was not of good quality. Due to poor technology in our preliminary task we decided not to use any speech in our main task. This was because in our preliminary the sound quality was extremely poor and inconsistent, so we decided not to use it in order to prevent time lags between the sound and the person seen talking(without sound) on the screen.

How we edited the video

To create the black and white effect we:

• selected the section of the video in the main timeline.


• opened up video effects folder and select image control, black and white


• draged it onto the video clip

To create the white flashes/fades we:

• opened up the video transitions folder and select disolve, addictive disolve


• draged it onto the end of one scene and the beginning of the other

How we slowed the video down:

• right clicking on the section of the video


• selecting speed/duration and set it to 50%

We also changed the brightness of the video by:

• clicking on video effects, image control, brightness


• setting it to 50%

Final cut- A distant memory

Reshoots

After we recieved opinions from a research audience we decided to use their feedback to decide what we should refilm. We reshot the girls door scene and the girls shop scene, this was because the lighting was not very good which affected the quality of the video.

Locations
Nisa shop for the walking scene
Lauras house for the door scene

Character
Laura as Katie

Props
Vodka bottle filled with water

Costume
Rose print dress and grey hoodie

Documentation
Kayleigh Harris (me)- Filming
Grace Bovan- Process shots

Facebook group and feedback

Many films use social networking sites to advertise films. This is an example of how films are using new technology in order to reach out to their target audience who use it. The most popular target audience is 18-26 year olds and the main users of social networking sites such as facebook are also 18-26 year olds. This suggests that film companies are locking onto a new advertising market which was not available before the technical revolution.
We have created a facebook group like other film companies do, but ours is not to advertise, it is to discover what people think of our rough cut. It is important to research this in order to gather different peoples opinions.
This is some of the feedback we received:

• "In some scenes the tops of heads were cut off."
• "The car screeching made it obvious that she had died. Wasn't it supposed to be mysterious?"
• "The second song didn't really fit with the rest of the film"
• "Time zones are not clear"
• "Needs to be a more obvious link between the characters which would probably make the overall story line clearer"
• "Make the characters relationship more obvious"

We have taken the feedback on board and we will make some alterations in particular the car scene and the sound effects. I think that a major problem is that in some scenes the framing is too low which leaves the characters head outside of the frame. However, to re correct this it would mean re shooting those scenes and we do not have enough time to do so.

Rough cut

Process photos

During the filming we have taken many process photos. We used this as evidence of our filming as well as documenting what we have done and when.

Conventions in our film compared with the genre

These are the main factors in our film:

• Mystery
• Mental illness
• Substance abuse (Alcohol)
• Death

These are the main factors in the same genre as our film (psychological thriller)

• Murder
• Police
• Mental health problems
• Supernatural events

Our film does comply with one of the major conventions of the genre; mental health problems. This is a good thing for us because it will still attract people who enjoy psychological thrillers to come and watch the film. The conventions are also there for a reason- because these types of factors work well with psychological thrillers, so it is important to keep some conventions. It also contests other conventions which is also a good thing because it allows the film to be original. This will also help separate this film from others of the same genre and will keep it from being similar to what people have already seen. For this reason it will attract more potential viewers.

Health and safety

On film sets film companies have to pay attention to and abide health and safety laws. This is to help prevent any injuries and accidents which may end in fatalities and law suits.
When filming we took several precautions to maintain good health and safety.
We needed to smash a bottle for one shot so to make sure we prevented injury we wrapped the bottle in a plastic bag before smashing it. We then made sure we had cleaned every shard of glass up off of the floor and wrapped that in another bag and disposed of it in a dustbin. Although we had to sprinkle the broken glass on a concrete floor, we chose my secluded driveway which has very little foot traffic. I also let people know that I had smashed a bottle to make sure that they were aware.
We also took care when crossing roads when we were filming. Because our attention was divided between the camera and what we were filming we had to make sure that there were no cars coming down a road.

Main task locations and permissions

During the planning of our film we had to decide what locations we were going to use and why they would be a good place to shoot in. We would also have to ask permission to shoot in or outside some locations.

Nisa shop (Walton)

We chose to shoot outside of this shop because it is a corner building which means that we would have a large variety of places to shoot from, creating a different angle. This would allow us to choose which one looks better after filming which would leave us with, hopefully, a better end product. We also chose this particular shop because of its location. It is situated in the middle of the girls bedroom location and the boys bedroom location. This means that we would spend less time travelling between locations.We used this shop for the scenes where both the boy and girl , separately, walk into the shop and purchase an item. The girl purchases a bottle of vodka and the boy purchases flowers to on her grave.
This shop had no problem with us filming outside and gave us free props.

The church (Paston)

This church was used for the graveyard scene, where the boy places flowers on his dead girlfriends grave. We chose this church because it is close to the Nisa shop and birth the boy and the girls bedroom location. It is also a very quiet church which means that we will not have to shoot around people or have people wandering into our shot.
We tried to gain permission from the vicar on the site but on the day of filming there was no one there to ask. We were prepared to leave the site if asked to but we finished our filming without anyone else arriving. I am also aware of another media group who last year shot their movie in this location with full approval of the vicar. I am therefore sure that if the vicar could have given his consent, he would have.

Gravestone

We chose this gravestone, outlined in red, because of the concrete block near it. This acted as a platform to stand our camera and tripod on. The block was even and allowed the camera to capture a straight image. All of the other graves were surrounded by uneven grass which would have made the camera and subsequently the film wonky. Another reason why we chose this gravestone was because all of the scripture on the stone had worn off suggesting that it was very old and that there were no remaining family members who would object to us shooting there. This allowed us to avoid asking permission because there was no trace of who the headstone belonged to e.c.t.

The girls bedroom

We chose this room because it belonged to a member of the group so we did not have to ask for permission to use it. It was also the closest the the boys bedroom location which lessened the time spent travelling from one location to another. It also suited the characters style of understatedly girly. It was big enough to allow all of the group to fit in to shoot, take process photos e.c.t. It also had a mirrored wardrobe which allowed us to film the reflective shots. This room was used for the scenes where the girl wakes up and gets ready for the day.

The boys bedroom

We used this room because it belonged to the boy who volunteered to act in our film. It was also the only masculine room we, as a group, had access to. It was also big enough to fit all of the cameras in. Nathan gave us permission to shoot in his bedroom and house.

Main task prop list

These are the props that we used in our main task and what they were used for:

Vodka bottle filled with water- To show the girls alcholism.
Teddy bear- A symbol of Katie and Jeremys relationship and affection.
Flowers- A typical symbol of death and romance. It shows Jeremys affection for Katie
Car- A source of light. The light is to cast on the girls character to show the car accident.

Main Task- Costume

Lauras costume

This character is supposed to be seen by the audience as an alcoholic party girl with mental health problems, and her costume is supposed to show them this. Our first choice, the picture seen here on the right, is too extreme and would show her decline too quickly. The final choice, seen here on the right, shows her with little makeup, a short skirt and a mismatched hoodie. This is supposed to show her confusion whilst showing that she is childlike and that she no longer cares about her appearance.

Nathans costume

Nathans costume is supposed to represent his smart and well held together personality. His trouser, suit and tie set shows that he is the complete opposite to Lauras character. This costume is also appropriate for a formal event, such as the aniversary of his girlfriends death.

Our roles in the main task

Actors
Laura Harris- As Katie a party loving character, who becomes an alcoholic and suffers from mental illness. Her scenes are set in the past.
Nathan Norton- As Jeremy, the greiving boyfriend of Laura. His scenes are set in the present.


Process Photos
Grace Bovan- Producer
During every step Grace will take photos to show the processes and steps we have taken to shoot our film.
Production
Kayleigh Harris(me)- Editor/Props
Once everything has been filmed I, along with the help of my group, will edit the shots together to make our final peice. I will use different transitions to make the shots flow well together. During the filming process, where editing isn't yet needed, I will help with props.

Camera
Kirsty Clark- Director
Kirsty will go through all of the plans to see if anything does not go well with the other scenes. She will also work out, with the help of the group, what scenes will need reshooting.

Our aim is to shoot everything within a few weeks. This will allow us to have enough time to edit and blog. It will also give us time incase we experience any technical problems or any delays through aspects out of our control e.g. illness.

Main task filming schedule

We came up with the following filming schedule because we all had different commitments that we had to keep and the schedule helped us organise when we could all meet to film. It would also make us more efficient because we would not have to waste time organising where and when we would meet as everyone in the group and the actors knew the schedule.

Monday all day
Tuesday afternoon
Wednesday all day
Friday morning

After filming this also became our editing schedule.

Storyboard anamatic

Storyboard for the main task

Laura, drew the storyboard with the opinions of the group to make sure that every shot flowed well with the next. We also had to come up with every different shot before filming so that it would be easier to shoot, as we would know exactly what we were doing and when to do it. Arrows were also used to show the direction, angle and movement of the camera, this is so that we did not deviate from the plan which may have affected the overall quality of the film. It would also be useful incase any reshooting needed to be done so that we knew where the camera was previously placed, which would help stop any continuity errors from occurring. A short description of the technical aspects such as zooms and movements was also written beneath each picture.





Page One
The film begins with a black frame with the noise of a car screeching/crashing.
A high angle closeup comes into focus showing a boy sleeping.
The next few shots show him waking up, getting dressed and ready for the day ahead.
There is no other mention or evidence of the car crash so the audience are left wondering about what it was.
Page Two
A girl is seen waking up , getting dressed and ready, the same as the boy did in the previous shots. This is the first evidence the audience get that they are linked. They both walk in each others footsteps at different times.
A teddy bear is focussed on several times during the shots as it is necessary that the audience notice the significance of it straight away.
Page Three
Split screen- both characters are seen leaving their house at the same time.
Both characters walk to the shops and buy items, bo9th walking in each others footsteps.
Page Four
They both come out of the shop, in sync, and cross a road. The boy looks aware of his surroundings whilst the girl is in a daze and doesn't look before crossing.
There is a flash of bright light (cars headlights)
A straightcut to the boy at a graveyard placing flowers and a teddy on the grave. It is not revealed but the grave is his girlfriends (the girl in the previous scenes).

Initial notes

Our film will show two characters re-enacting the same movements, just from different time periods. We will show this by having all of the shots of the girl in black and white, whilst the shots of the boy would remain in colour. By doing this the audience will work out the differences between the two whilst still wondering why it is doing so.

There will be many links between the two characters shown throughout, for instance the same teddy bear with both characters, and photographs of the two pictured together. From this, the audience will work out further that the two characters are linked in some way - most probably romantically from the links that are shown. Parallel scenes will help with this; as whatever the boy does, the girl does too.

So from the start the audience will be able to work out the two characters are linked in some way, yet in different time zones. We will also add in sound effects and music (not copyrighted) after filming to reiterate the storyline that is in shot. Sound effects will also add effect to the enigma, whilst the audience are wondering about the difference between the boy and girl characters.

We will use a split screen at some points, so show that the boy is walking in the girls footsteps, just during a different time. This will make it easier to show this, instead of just cutting between the boy and girl throughout. (Match on Action) The use of freeze frames during this also, will help us when it comes to adding in the titles, as we will be able to easily match the title names to the characters on screen.

We will add in one piece of dialogue mid film, to make sure it doesn't begin to look too much like a trailer. The dialogue would consist of the girl making a phone call, by the boy does not answer (due to different time zones) so it looks like the girl is calling someone else; adding to the enigma.

Our movie title will also be at the end of our opening two minutes; providing the beginning of the film at that moment. By having the end at the beginning, and then linking back - helps the audience become intrigued to what truly happened, and it will allow their questions to be answered as the actual movie progresses after the opening two minutes.

All of this, matches our chosen genre as it remains mysterious throughout, always adding to the enigma. All of these questions would obviously be answered if we were to make the whole movie instead of just the opening two minutes.

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If we were to make the whole movie, to make sure it had substance to be a whole feature length film we could of shown the girls decline in mental health and her turning to alcoholism to solve her problems. Whilst also showing her boyfriend trying to help her. All of this would link to the ending that we will show at the beginning as to the audience wondering who has died and why.

Main task synopsis

Girl is shown (in the past) reliving her last day, before she is involved in an accident. The accident is not shown, but hints however are mentioned. The girl's boyfriend is shown (in the present) obviously still mourning and visiting the girls grave. However, considering you do not know the girl died; you obviously don't know that it is her grave. - all adding to the enigma. The boy and girl are shown walking the same movements of the day, with slight differences. There are many links between the two characters.

Copyright laws

We are not allowed to use Copyrighted music in our main task, because of this I have done some research into what we are and are not allowed to use.
We have to gain permission from the people who's music it is if we want to use it and we cannot claim it as our own. If permission is denied then we are not allowed, by law, to use it and another piece of music must be used instead.We have found out that there is websites that list copyright free music and from where you can download it legally. I think that it would be easier to use copyright free music because it would save time waiting to be granted or denied permission to use it. We could also create our own music due to our groups musical background, however I think that this would waste time that could be used bettering our video rather than creating music which will not better our overall mark.
If we were to use copyrighted music it is possible to get around the laws by writing, next to/on our work, who wrote, performed and produced the music.

We have decided to use the song Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros and to make sure that we are definately obiding with the copyright laws, I have emailed the band, using the adress I have found on their official website, asking for permission to use their song. This is a copy of the email that I have sent and a print screen of the actual email.

Dear Sigur Ros/ Production Team

I am writing to you on behalf of my media production group, Funky Monkey Productions. We would very much like to use your song Hoppipolla, in our A-Level media coursework film. We have chosen this peice of music because all the members of the group like it and it suits well with both the genre and the atmosphere of the short film. It would mean alot to us if we could use your music in our film as it may help to better our grades. This film will only be used for exam purposes and will not be publically released. We have also stated the name of the song, who performed it and who it was written and produced by, to abide by copyright laws.

If we do not hear from you, we will assume that it is ok to use it in our film. You can contact us on the following email adress- 03Harrisk@kscs.org.uk

Thankyou,

Kayleigh Harris

Laura Harris

Kirsty Clarke

Grace Bovan

WWW.COPYRIGHTSERVICE.CO.UK

Top 10 Box Office movies of 2009

By researching what movies took the most money and where viewed the most at Box Office, I can find out what people are attracted to in a film. I can also see if there are any genres which appear to be more popular. This will help me decide what our film will need to have to attract people and make them want to watch it.

10. Inglorious Basterds (Drama/ Thriller)
Directed by Tarantino- Well known and liked director would attract viewers.
Very well known cast Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, e.c.t.- Would attract their fans and they are well known for being in good movies so people would instantly think that this would be a good movie.

9. Terminator Salvation (Action/Sci-fi)
Sequel- It would attract the fans of the other films.

8.Monsters .Vs. Aliens (Family)
Disney- Has a huge fan base
Came out during school holidays- Children would want to go and would have more time to go. Parents would want to take their children to entertain them.

7. Angels and Demons (Mystery/Thriller)
Book- People who read the book would want to go and see if the film is as good.
Sequel- People who liked the first one would want to see the second.
Well known actors- E.g. Tom Hanks has a huge fan base, his fans would want to see the movie because he is in it.

6. Star Trek (Sci-Fi)
Popular TV programme- The fans would want to see the movie because they liked the TV programme.

5. Harry Potter and the half blood prince. (Family)
Sequel- Fans of the previous movies would want to see this one.

4. Up (Family)
Disney Pixar- Has a very large fan base
Came out during school holidays- Children would want to go and would have more time to go. Parents would want to take their children to entertain them.

3. An Education (Drama)
Popular genre- People who like these kinds of films would be attracted to it.
Nominated for awards- People would want to watch it to see if it deserves them.

2. Hurt Locker (Action)
Won an Oscar- People would want to see if it deserves them.
Current affairs storyline- People interested in the middle east conflict would want to watch it.

1. Avatar (Action/Sci-Fi)
Had alot of publicity- People would want to see if it lives up to the hype.
Used new technology- People wanted to see if it was any different to normal films.

The main things that, according to this research, attract people the most are:
if the film is a sequel
if it has well known actors or directors
if it came out during school holidays.

The most popular genres are Action, Sci-Fi, Thrillers and Family films. This tells me that because our film is a Psychological Thriller it may have a large potential audience, which would be good for attracting people to watch it.