Evaluation 7

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

In our preliminary task we was very new to the camera and to the technology so it was pretty much touch and go for the first task.So on the first task we tried to keep it simple as we only had to include;

• 180 degree rule
• shot-revers shot 
• over the shoulder

In our prelim we didn't have any natural backing noises so in our final task we decided to have natural sounds like the tap running and the birds and the rubbing of the jeans. So we focused a lot more on our noises and the music on our final task compared to that of our preliminary. As in our prelim was had just two people talking and silence in the back group so it was awkward. The music that we had inputted into the final  film made it such an important part of thrillers and when there wasn't any music there wasn't much of a tense atmosphere- so by adding the music it gives the moving images an effect and a more intense atmosphere for the audience.

      In our final film opening we managed to do a lot more editing and put in transitions and we was all able to get involved with the editing and with what bits we should put where.In the editing of the final film opening I feel like I personally have learnt how to edit the clip by being able too;

• split a clip
• delete unwanted clips
• detach audio/ clip
• add in text in various places with motion
• do transitions effectively
• increase the speed of a clip
• how to change the contrast, saturation and outline on a clip
• how to put in black slides- for example like having the black for when a persons name comes up.

Evaluation 6

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

      Well to produce our film we used final cute express at first but then after finding that imovie can help us to improve our film we decided to convert our film from final cut express to imovie.
     The features of imovie are;

• More transitions
• Add text more easier
• Easier to convert to a  '.mov ' file
• You can put different color backdrop/wallpaper on screen
• You can add themes like the news.
• More options - you can split a clip, remove audio, increase the speed and vise visa.
• Up-to-date software so it wasn't slow and it was easy to use.
• Because it was up to date it was an experiment as not many people knew how to use it - this was a learning curve.

                  We also tried to adjust the contrast, colors and added themes but none of them seem to fit our genre. This was a learning curve as we didn't know what was going to happen and we had to adjust a few things, but we didn't end up doing what we changed in the end. We started off using some little flip cameras which didn't have the best film quality and so they were sometimes pix-elated but then we got some new cameras which were easier to control and they could do many more things than what the other flip cameras could do-for example you could put them on a tripod. This helped us to learn about the new technology of cameras due to the fact that these cameras had an up to date software and they had more options that you could do with the footage with a combination of imovie.

Evaluation 3

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

  We decided that paramount pictures was a great institution to pick for our film because in the last 10 films it has had a range of genres which inspired us to pick this institution. The last 10 films were;

• The Dictator
• Madagascar 3
• Katy Perry- Part Of Me
• Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark
• Paranormal Activity 4
• Fun size
• Flight
• Rise of the Guardians
• The Guilt Trip
• Jack Reacher

     Originally we was stuck between Universal and paramount the reasons for this were; one of them being easier to download and to put onto imovie and for it to work fine. One of them hasn't done many films in our genre and the other had some more experience in the genre. The picture and how it was displayed also played apart - this was important as Universal has more of a happy feel for it which suits comedy's and Rom-Coms not a psychological thriller, where as paramount had an intense feel to the picture.The music was a quite big thing as well as universal has such a happy and loud music which doesn't suit our genre as at the beginning of paranormal activity you wouldn't see Universal you would see paramount because it is more intense and the music has a build up with the music starting of quiet and then slowly building up the volume and the bass which suits the picture and our genre perfectly.

    Universal didn't succeed because;

• Theme song- was too happy and joyful and this didn't suit our genre.
• The picture is just too bright and colorful.

The last 6 films that Universal did were;

• Pitch perfect 
• Man with the iron fists
• Anna Karenina
• Zero Dark Thirty
• This is 40
• Les Miserables

90% of these films have no link to our genre and so Universal Pictures would not be suitable for our film.

Evaluation 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


As our film is targeted at the age range of 15-25 year old people, this is because us as a group and as a casting crew we are in that age range. Also we have represented the social group that we ( as a group have chosen ) , by having the girl being stalked through a woods we are able to get our audience to relate to them selves in that girls position.
      The reason why we made our film a minimum age of 15 was because we would want to know that our audience understood the film and the hidden meanings. For instance if they were younger then they might not understand the plot and then they would get confused and so they would struggle and so  they wouldn't get the full vibe as much as what an 18 year old would for example.
       A social group that we did not consider was different races/religions because there was nothing gory or any violence or sexual scenes but as we do have a cultural person in our group we did change our wardrobe a little to suit the religion- the actors completely dressed so no legs or shoulders showing.

 

As you can see from these clips from the film, you can clearly see that Jessica is a vulnerable girl walking alone and this gives the audience the message that she is innocent and all alone. This is because she is being followed by a man this makes it easy for young girls to relate to this girls position- and so they will fear this happening to them, so they would want to know how the girl would end up so they will finish watching the film.
  Throughout  the rest of the opening there was just a tension builder in the atmosphere.

Evaluation 5

How did you attract or address your audience?


 We used a tension statement with the music as this suited our genre and this would attract our audience as your target audience was 15 to 25 year old's. They are the right age for a psychological thriller so this interests them as they get thrills and an adrenalin rush, as they are adrenalin junkies. The tension statement that we used was a vibe to the music. In a thriller you usually have tension building music , this draws in the audience so they get engrossed in the film and want to find out more. The music adds a more of a tension builder without the music you wild find it being boring and you wouldn't find it as 'spine-chilling'.


  We attracted our audience by adding in a scenario that is most commonly happening. This was the fact that people are stalked and their friends think they are being paranoid. With this being such a strong shot we have her looking around which gives people the suspicion that something is happening, this is what will draw our audience in as they would be so intrigued to find pout what is going to happen to her. The scenario would also be easy to follow so there wouldn't be any confusion or people sitting there not understanding what is happening.


We addressed our audience by using actors who were in the age range of our target audience. This made it much more reasonable as they would think well this wouldn't happen to people that this film isn't aimed at. So by having the actors in the same age range as what the target audience it makes it more of a recognizable situation.

Evaluation 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

   Our audience for our media product will be a combination of males and females with the age range of about 15-25. This is because of what is included in the film - like a paranoia effect on the back of your mind ( so your mind playing tricks on you ). As well as the language content is quite vigorous as its an intense film but yet easy to understand- so any one over the age of 15 would be able to understand the film and the language. We initially decided to aim our film at the age range of 15 to 25. We was going to aim it at teenagers (ages of 12-18 ) but we soon realized that not all of them would want  to see the same thing and some people might feel disappointed if they don't see anything that they are legally allowed too- so because of this we had to change our target audience to make it more appropriate.
   

  A major contribution to our decision on the target audience was the other people that were in our group and that also did media- they said that they would prefer to watch a film what consisted of people their own age. We also told them the genre that we was doing and one that we was also considering-these were; horror and a psychological thriller. The majority of the people that we asked said that they liked the psychological thriller idea more so that is the one that we went to according to our target audience.

     With our target audience liking the  fact that we was going to be doing a psychological thriller made the choice a lot easier as with this genre you can have more dramatic transitions and then the conventions would just fit in perfectly! The language and the film story board fitted our target audiences minds so it was the right decision and it looked like we succeeded especially with having the same language of the youth of today.

Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?
  
  We have followed the main conventions of a psychological thriller; is the location and setting. It is commonly seen in a grave yard or a forest/woods this is seen as a symbolism of something happening and more or less of death.

The reason for the woods being a typical convention and one that is commonly used in a psychological thriller as it is a place where quite often, suspicious things will happen. We have challenged the conventions of a thriller however,  because usually you would set this scene at night or when it's dark. We have chosen to set this scene during the daytime when it's light. This is to suggest that you are never safe as you can still be attacked in the day time - something that people take for granted. This makes it more tense if someone is attacked during the day as it is unexpected because everyone is out during the day. It had made the film more realistic as the girl is on her way home as it seems more of a situation that others would know about, because she is walking through the woods on her own so the suspension is building up. The associations with the woods is that there is wild animals that will make noises, strange rustlings - things that make the audience seem un-easy and more cautious as well as having that suspicion that someone is there....

     This will make the film more tense as you will have animals like rats scurrying across the wood's floor, birds squawking, twigs breaking , wind blowing viciously and animals like birds.  The birds are more of an animal which is commonly used in thrillers. We used birds as during the day you have the small chirp-y but yet never to be seen birds - this would cause suspicion and something to play on the back of the audiences mind. That is how we challenged the convention as birds during the night would be always seen, they   would be high pitch squawking which would add to the suspicion that some one is there. These birds relate to the scenario as the horrible birds come out at night to eat those vulnerable ones that have strayed from their nest. This would also be the same as teens coming out night all alone as they are scared that someone evil or something evil will happen to them. So its a symbolism of a food chain of predator and prey. The breaking of twigs - by the birds stepping on them would make you turn round in suspension and probably suspect that someone was there. This would cause people to look around and suspect that someone or something might be following them. But with the fact that there is lots of tree's around makes it hard for the audience to see what is around .With the tree's being there it is a great place for someone to hide and this would be in the back of the audience's mind. By removing part of the audience's vision, it encourages the audience to feel suspicious and to assume something is out there.

  This is a shot from our film which shows how we challenged the conventions of the thriller and how well this worked. Here we have a still image of the girl who is being stalked. Here we have the suspicion that she thinks that someone is following her. This shot of her turning round shows the viewer her expression as well as the tension of what might occur.We also attempted to challenge the make up of a thriller as usually they would just have a pale white face but we decided to have my face white with black eyes and black lips. But this did not succeed as we decided that showing the stalkers face was just giving too much away, as we wanted the audience to have it playing on the back of their minds about what the stalker looked like.