Evaluation

 

Evaluation

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

Our film’s introduction has a reasonable amount of titles showing our actress, directors and editors etc.  we chose to show the majority of titles at the end. The narrative of our film is quite different to the usual horror genre I think it is more of a psychologically disturbing film which has a message to the viewers behind it. In the intro not much is given away about the story of the film, the audience will be confused and feel slightly uncomfortable. It will make them want to carry on watching the film to discover what will happen. The name of the film is ‘Escape’ which is quite vague to what or who it would be about. I think this plot is quite different to anything I have ever seen.

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

Our film represents a girl who has dealt with problems at home, in the intro there are a few clips which show how affected she is and how she feels like she is losing her sanity. The film could relate to people and children who have dealt with child abuse or home violence. The audience for this film could be people who have experienced home violence or abuse but also other people who will watch this film and feel informed and aware that it is a big issue. I think the film is more about her thoughts and feelings and what goes on in her mind rather than the physical abuse she endured and her problems at home. The production would class as a 12 or 15 because it could be disturbing for younger viewers and have a disturbing psychological affect on the mind.

 

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

We chose to distribute the film as a ’Spyglass’ production because it is a well known company but not too famous as our film is more abstract rather than a typical commonly themed movie. Our film is low budget therefore we thought that a un mainstream company would be better suited, because we are not trying to appeal to a large audience. Our film is more of a small art film made for people who are interested in psychological dramas.

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

 We discussed this thoroughly and came to the conclusion that our target audience would be suitable to view a 15 certificate. We thought it would be suitable because the film doesn’t contain any gore or violence however it could be psychologically disturbing and too scary for the younger viewers. The film gives out a message which only older viewers would be able to comprehend.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The intro for our film is quite mysterious and the viewers don’t really know what’s going on, this might make them feel they have to watch the rest of the film to find out. Alice & I decided not to make a movie poster as we didn’t feel that our film would appeal to a wide variety of viewers; it is more suited for the types who enjoy films of a mysterious and ambiguous nature.

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

At beginning of the year I learnt how to use the Canon XL 2 camera I found it complicated at first but once I had figured out the all the contractions it was easy to use.

The first program I learnt how to use was ‘iMovie’ I found this quite simple and very easy, I learnt how to edit clips and cut unnecessary parts out, also how to edit the speed of clips and add in transitions. We used this program to change the contrast and colour of some of our clips and we learnt how to make clips fade in and out. We used the effect ‘ghost trail’ in one of the path shots for our film this makes the clip blurry and as if you’re seeing double which gives a good effect for our film to make the viewers feel uncomfortable.

After using ‘iMovie’ I learnt how to use after effects which is more complicated and not quite as simple to use. I learnt how to make titles, change the font and colour, put them where you want them and how long they will show up on the screen for.  As well as editing clips we learnt how to add in music, and how to cut parts out.

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

My preliminary task enabled me to learn to use the camera and discover all the different shots and camera angles, although it was much simpler to film compared to making our intro, although I didn’t get round to finish editing the clips. 

Construction essay

Once Alice and I planned everything we decided dates for filming and managed to get lifts down to our specific location of the bunker at La Pulente. Our first day of filming was on the 29th of January. We first had difficulty using the camera but filmed the path shot and inside the bunker, when we returned to school to look at the clips unfortunately they were deleted, although we used the time as a practise film and we knew exactly what we would be doing the next time round.

Our Second filming trip we brought our actress Louise and provided her with suitable clothing and props such as a torch.

The weather was cloudy which was perfect for path shot which added a mysterious element and errey atmosphere which we intended for these shots. Alice then filmed down a small path which leads to the entrance of the bunker carefully avoiding the graffiti on the walls as graffiti gave the impression that the bunker wasn’t deserted and that people had discovered it and been inside.

I took over the next part of the filming and filmed down the corridor of the bunker which was light because of the light directly shining through the door way, the other rooms are pitch black. I focused on the floor of the bunker again to avoid more graffiti and out to the end room which had a large window viewing all the coast line of St.Ouen.

Our next scene was a close up of our actress Louise to show closely her expressions and let the audience focus on her. She sits in a pitch black room in the bunker anxiously looking around holding her torch up to light the room, she has a scared and lonely expression, when we come to edit the clips we will add in a voice over to show her thoughts and feelings in her head overlapping her voice so the audience can her lots of voices which will make them feel on edge and un able to make out everything she is saying.








After filming our actress sitting in the bunker appearing to have gone insane we proceeded to film our last scene of the girl escaping from the bunker we chose to shoot this scene out on a bit of cliff top outside the window of the back of the bunker to show the scenery and her running around the cliff we then realised that this would be difficult because of the amount of space, as she would not be able to run very far which would make the shot shorter and less effective of her escaping.


We managed to get good shots of the pathway and bunker although we had trouble with the camera again because the lighting settings were wrong which meant the shots we took were too light so we arranged again to film on Monday the 9th of March we aim to get most of the shots done this time round as it is a difficult location to get too and a hassle for transport.


On Monday the weather was perfect for the shot down the path although we accidently caught a shot of a runner coming towards us down the path which was then deleted after. The weather was also perfect for the last shot of our actress Louise as she escapes from the bunker and looks up at the sky. The sun and brightness of the blue sky in this shot was aimed to represent a new beginning for that character.


Alice and I have decided not to include our male actress in the intro, and cut out our idea of showing his silhouette representing the father in the story. We have changed the storyline as we have decided not to show anything about the abusive father in the intro and instead keep it simple. The Character will hear a noise or something to show there is someone else in the bunker. We will show her terrified expression as she gets up to scramble out of the bunker. The final shot of the intro will show her looking up towards the clear blue sky, finally having come out of the bunker. Throughout the film our clips will be dark and dull in contrast to the last clip of her escaping; this is to represent a new beginning of freedom and a new start to her journey.


Once all the filming was completed, we started to edit the clips, cutting out unnecessary parts. We already had an idea of the sort of music we would be using, ‘Beside you in time - Nine Inch Nails’ to create the feeling of the character going insane as the music is quite repetitive. To begin editing the clips we learnt how to speed up and slow down the speed of each clip also how to make the clips appear smoother as some of the handheld filming wasn’t so smooth. We chose to slow down the clip of the camera filming down the long corridor of the bunker so give another errey affect of confusion for the audience.



We decided that it would be effective to show flashes of clips of the girl sitting in the bunker in darkness into the scene of the pathway to shock the viewers and make them feel on edge as her face flashes on screen, also to give them a taster of what is happening. After this we started to make the titles for our film using ‘After Effects’ we selected a suitable font and took names from the back of a DVD to use and made sure the text appeared on screen only when clips of the girl sitting in the dark were shown so that the text would be more noticeable to the viewers.

To give the film more of an edge we wanted to make our titles appear more horror like to suit the genre, we were inspired by the opening titles of the film seven, and started to handwrite the titles and scan them in although we set aside the idea because of lack of time and thought it would be better to keep it simple.
Once we started we found ‘After Effects’ easier to use than we’d expected.

We carried on looking through our clips to see anything that could be added in and deleted. Given that the film is focused on the girl and her bad experiences we chose to show a few more clips of our actress Louise going insane and given that there’s time add a voice over to show the characters thoughts and feelings. We took clips of her in a room with a black sheet behind her to get the impression she’s in complete darkness in the bunker, we also used blue lighting to give the scene a dull and spooky atmosphere. The clips turned out well and fitted in with the rest of the intro.


We were pleased with the final outcome of all the clips after everything had been edited. We then moved on to sorting out the music, using the song we first had in mind, ‘Beside you in time - Nine Inch Nails’ the song is quite long which meant we had to cut some parts out to fit it in with the intro, I think this song is very effective and goes well with our clips, the music is very repetitive and there isn’t much singing that’s obvious in the song, I think this song will affect the audience and make them feel more involved and grabbed by the film.

Alice and I had been thinking about the title of the film since starting it but nothing had come to mind that would be suitable as the film is quite unpredictable to what will happen to this girl once she runs out of the bunker, no one knows what will happen. After thinking of countless names we could use Alice thought of ‘Escape’ which is very suitable for the film and fits well we the plot, the name is classic and simple but doesn’t give away anything about the story of the film. I think the name will attract an audience to watch this film; it makes the film sound like an adventure and a thriller kind of film which will be dramatic and exiting to watch. It is also quite a vague title which could be about anything or anyone; people will want to find out what it’s about.

Planning essay

Firstly I started out by doing the introduction to a film about rape and murder I wrote out the plot and had a location in mind which would have ideally been a large empty shed or barn with steps. I also included camera angles and suitable props to my planning, I then realised that it would be too difficult to film and make because of difficultly of finding a suitable location that I could use and props and materials I needed for the film. I was also worried of the film turning out to be unrealistic because it would involve violence and some gore.

I came to the conclusion not to carry on with the film project but to swap to making a music magazine, which in my opinion would be easier to produce, but still challenging and inspiring.

I looked at a number of music and fashion magazines and got ideas and commented on what I liked about the images and colours. I also found an example of a contents page on the internet that I liked and commented on the design, colours, title and layout of the page.

I went on to take a few photos of a friend to experiment with different camera angles and see how the pictures turned out and if they were good enough to use to go towards making a school sixth form magazine. Unfortunately the pictures didn’t turn out as I hoped and I wasn’t inspired by the school theme and the idea. As I wasn’t making much progress in the making of the magazine I decided once again to swap back to making a film. Although this time my friend Alice Brown, she offered that we work together and do a joint project as we could put our ideas and thoughts together and create a film.

The storyline Alice had in mind for a film was about a girl who had ran away after having been abused by her father and after living with the pain and frustration resorted to killing him and escaping because of being too frightened to live with what she has done to live alone in a isolated bunker on the coast. Throughout the film the memories come back of her dead father in flashbacks. In the introduction of the film she sees a silhouette of a man who she assumes is her father she panics and runs out of the bunker which gives a good start to the film and makes the audience want to carry on watching the film to see what happens.

For my preliminary I filmed my friends Alice and Poppy using different camera angles, for example over the shoulder shots and an establishing shot near the beginning of the scene so that the audience know where everything is in the scene. I also included a Full shot of the characters and a Close- up of each character to show their emotions and expressions.

The location we are using for our film is a deserted bunker at la Pulente in St. Ouens we feel this would be a good location for the film as it has long corridors and dark bland rooms. There are no lights or electricity, which means the bunker, is pitch black even in daylight, we would bring torches and film in candlelight. This gives the right atmosphere for the film.

The Actors we will be using for our film are Louise Eden to play the girl in the bunker and Jared Tomkins to play the silhouette of the man standing in the entrance.


Alice and I have discussed filming and planned out who will be doing which shots so we each take turns in filming. We will arrange to be dropped down to the bunker each time we plan to film. Our first Filming trip will be on the 29th January, we aim to film as much as possible because the location we are using it difficult to get to.

Script

Here is the script for our film...

Girl in bunker: I’ve been in this dark place for what seems like months, I can’t seem to leave… I haven’t slept in days, I can’t, they’re coming to get me, I need to escape. Being free is a foreign concept… I can’t remember a time when I felt safe… Everything has changed. I need to get out before they find me. 

Evaluation

EVALUATION CRITERIA
Candidates will evaluate their work electronically. This MUST contain an element of audience feedback and may be either integrated with the presentation of the research and planning material or may be presented separately. Where candidates have worked in a group, the evaluation may be presented individually or collectively but the teacher must allocate a mark according the contribution/level of understanding demonstrated by the individual candidate.

The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:
1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Level 4 16–20 marks
Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.
Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
Excellent ability to communicate.
Excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation

Opening titles

We have started to make the  opening titles for our introduction, we wrote down the titles on paper using our names and other famous names. We will then scan the words in and use  After Effects to edit and make the text wiggle and jump inspired by the opening titles of the film ' Seven'.

filming

Me and Alice filmed everything we needed for the opening credits of our film, the clips turned out better than we thought once we edited and cut unnecessary bits out, we just have to carry on editing and decide on the name of the film and the kind of music we will use.