Main Task- Evaluation- Q7

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

In this blog post, I am going to explain about how I have progressed from the preliminary task to the main task. 

I think we have learnt a lot and made improvements from our preliminary task to our main task. 

Research&Planning

I feel that our research and planning improved the most between the preliminary and main task. For our preliminary task we did not have as much research as we should have done. We only created a film treatment, storyboard and a shot&prop list. However, when it came to our main task we were more prepared. We created a film treatment which was in much more detail so we were clear about what our story line was going to be. We also did more research on location, costume, music&sound where as we did not do this with the preliminary task. We did more research for our main task than our preliminary as we realized we needed to prepare a lot more before filming. We also learnt from our mistakes made in research and planning whiles doing our preliminary task. Our time management also improved when doing our main task which allowed us to get all planning done quickly and to be more organised. 

Filming 

In our preliminary task, it was difficult to film as it took a long time to setup the camera and tripod because we were still quite new to it all. We had problems with the camera where it would not allow us to record due to the wrong settings. Filming the preliminary took much longer than we expected due to not planning enough which lead to us being unorganized on the day of filming. Where as filming for our main task, was much easier as we knew the basics of the DSLR and the tripod, which  saved us a lot of time. The only major problem that occurred was getting the lighting right in the different scenes. As we needed it to be lighter in the train station scenes, and darker in the park scenes. But we were unable to film all the shots in one day because it would have got too dark to see anything. So we had to film the park scenes on other days so the lighting would be right. To improve, we changed the brightness and contrast when editing. I feel as we have progressed a lot from the preliminary task to our main task using a DSLR confidently. 
Editing
When editing the preliminary task. We were still learning how to use Adobe Premiere Pro because we were still learning, we were unable to use a variety of editing features. Which includes the brightness and transitions. The audio was also not as clear as it could have been. When editing our main task, it was much better because we were more familiar with using Adobe Premiere Pro as we had experience from our preliminary task. We were able to use different editing features like changing the brightness and contrast, transitions, adjusting the sound and editing the shots etc. However we could have improved our main task by changing the costumes of some of the characters, as the girls were wearing black so it was difficult to see their figures and they diverted attention from the man in black. 

Overall I think our main task was better than our preliminary task. This is because we were more prepared for the main task, and we also learnt from our mistakes when creating our preliminary task in order to improve our main task. 



                                                   Preliminary task:

                                                           Main task: 

Main Task - Evaluation - Q6

Main Task-Evaluation- Q4&Q5

In this blog, I will be writing about who our target market is and how we attracted them in our film opening. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For our film opening, our target age is mainly teenagers to mid 20s (15 - 24 year olds). This is because looking at the BFI statistical yearbook, I recognized that the younger generation are more interested in the horror genre. The target audience for horror and for our film are people who enjoy the thrill from the adrenaline rush from the fear that is represented in horror films. I feel both male and female will watch our film as we have gendered the black figure to being a man and we have used female characters as the victims which may attract females. Horror appeals to both female and male. Stereo typically men like the violence, while women enjoy the suspense. We decided 15-25 year olds' for our target audience because it is the most popular age for horror genre films. If  we changed the classification to a younger rating it may be too scary and inappropriate for them. 

The certification we are going to use for our film will be a 15+. 

The sort of things that might be included in rated 15 movies are: 

• Strong violence 
  
• Drug use
• Inappropriate language 
• Nudity 
• Sexual activity 
• Dangerous behaviour

When researching the horror genre, we found that the top 15 rated film of 2015 was a horror film. This shows us that most horror films have a certification of 15+. Also another reason as to why we thought the younger generation would be our target age is because they like to look for intense experiences. Where as the older generation tend not to seek out experiences that make their hearts race. 

How did you attract/address your audience?
For this question we asked a few people from our target audience and our focus group some questions, we also made a video of our focus group discussing what they liked and disliked about our film opening. 

Main Task - Evaluation - Q3

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

In this blog, I will be researching different media institutions that might distribute our media product.

When deconstructing the film openings which include, The Woman in Black, The Conjuring, Jaws (1975). I researched the distributors of each film.
Different media institutions make different types of films, for example Pixar create films for young children where as institutions like Lionsgate create horror/thriller films.
A film institution only produce certain films which means they have a certain target audience.

The media institutions I researched and thought would distribute our media product are:

Warner Bros

Warner Bros is a integrated entertainment company and a global leader in distribution. Warner Bros produces and distributes 18-22 films each year. It was founded in 1923, it is head quartered in California. I researched that The Conjuring was distributed by Warner Bros. It is also known for distributing Friday the 13th. Their films are also very high grossing and have a high amount of views. Warner Bros are very well known internationally. Therefore I think that a wide range of public would watch our film opening as they are popular distributors.

Lionsgate

Lionsgate is an American based independent producer and distributor. Lionsgate specialise in horror productions such as The Conjuring which is one of the films that I deconstructed. 
Lionsgate is a  global content leader whose feature films, television programming, digital content touch consumers around the world.  Lionsgate continues to grow into a vertically integrated global company. Lionsgate's film business generates an average of nearly $2 billion annually at the worldwide box office. Blair Witch and Saw are well known films which were distributed by Lionsgate. 

In my opinion, I think that for a small independent film like ours, Lionsgate would be the best because it has a British distribution company so it would be the best for our film. Also Lionsgate specializes in horror productions. They have produced similar horror films to our film. Therefore our film may be well recognized due to the company already being well known for distributing horror films so it would be a suitable choice. However, if we wanted to distribute our film with a much more integrated company, we would choose Warner Bros as it would be the most suited because some of the best horror films have been distributed by Warner Bros. They also have a lot of experience with the horror genre which would be very beneficial for our film. However we could also distribute our film with different companies like Netflix etc. as it will be the cheaper for our target audience to watch rather than them going to the cinema. 

Main Task-Evaluation- Q2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Main Task - Evaluation - Q1

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

For this question I will be discussing whether our media product is similar to those that we researched.

We decided to use the horror genre for our film opening, which is between one to two minutes long, giving us enough time to develop and include different techniques in our film opening. Furthermore, we were able to add in key camera shots, inter titles etc. Before we decided to use horror as the genre, we looked at horror films so we could get an idea of real media products, these included The Woman in Black, The Conjuring and Jaws (1975).  After writing up deconstructions of each film, including  the synopsis, distributors, timeline. Also the analysis of costume, makeup, sound, music and credits, helped us to decide what we needed to include in our film opening. After analyzing The Woman in Black we decided to challenge the real media product by using the idea of a woman in black but instead we decided to do a man in black as it is stereo-typically known for a man to be the evil character.

                                  
                                                        Gif of the man in black
Editing

We looked at the different editing skills used in the other real life media products that we analysed. We noticed that most horror films use a dark tone which means low key lighting is used quite often throughout horror films. We liked the idea of using dark tones as it created an intense atmosphere. but instead of just using dark tones we decided to use both dark and bright tones to represent good vs evil theme. Our conventions represent conflict.

                                                      Establishing shot of the park 

Camera

We decided to use quite a few close up shots as horror films mainly use close up shots as it creates atmosphere and it increases the audiences fear as it shows the facial expression's of the characters. I found out that a theorist named Goddard believed that close up shot’s were invented for tragedy. He believes that 'close up shots  reveal an emotion and  create emphasis'. However horror films often use extreme close up shot’s as well as adding dramatic effects to the shot's e.g. low key lighting. We used a variety of different shots such as; mid shot, low angle shot, tracking shot, high angle shot, eye level, point of view, long shot, close up, establishing shot. We used a low angle shot to show the face of the man in black because we thought it was effective because it shows the audience how the man in black dominates over the girls and has the most power. The low angle shot also helps the audience feel as if they are looking up at the man in black and feeling his dominance. We used quite a few long shots as we thought it will help the audience recognize the whereabouts of the characters in the scene. The scenes are set in harmless locations which creates a twist because the audience will not expect anything to happen.  We also used tracking shots to connote the movement, we thought it was very effective as it showed that the girls were being followed and watched, it also helped to represent the girls' fear. Another reason as to why we used a tracking shot was so could establish park scene to create suspense as it was the last shot so the audience could think about what is going to happen to the girls next. We also used a over the shoulder shot to show the man in black stood by the girls who were the victims. We thought it was the best shot to use to create tension as the audience got to see the man in black at the same time as the girl noticed him.  

                                                    Over the shoulder shot 

                                                         Tracking shot 








Mise en scene
Costume of the characters: We chose casual clothing for the girls' costumes as we thought it suited the story line the best. We decided all three girls will be dressed in modern day clothing which is in fashion as it is set in the present time. These types of clothing consists of: jeans, trainers, jumpers etc. Lastly, we have the character who plays the man following them, Toby. He will have no identity revealed as he will be wearing all black with a mask, similar characteristics to ‘Slender man’. We had a slight issue with the costume of two of the girls whiles we were editing because they were wearing all black as well as the man in black so it made it difficult to make the man in black stand out.

Location: We decided to use two different locations for our film opening as we thought it would make the film opening seem more mysterious and interesting. The two locations that we decided to chose for our scenes were a train station and a park. We felt this would create a good plot twist as they are normal settings so the audience will start building expectations and then the action takes a different turn. We chose external locations as we wanted a gloomy atmosphere so we decided to shoot it outdoors so the weather could enhance the atmosphere. We were fortunate with the time of year because it was winter.

                                                 This shot shows the characters' costumes

                                                             Shot of the train station 

                                                           Shot of the park 
 
Title 

We have the title appearing at the end of our film opening. We have used a thin off -white outline color with the man in black in the background. We used an off white color because it stand outs well over he black background so it is easy to see. The color white connotes purity and innocence which is the opposite to our film opening genre which is horror. The main colors of the title, which are black and white create a dark and eerie atmosphere for the audience. The font used is thin an creepy which is used to foreshadow the events to come. Most horror films would use black or red title to represent horror, however we chose white so it was challenging the normal horror convention. It is clearer to see and it does not give too much away. We used serifs because we recognized that most horror films use serifs so we decided to use this convention as it was effective.

                                                      Shot of the title 



Music&Sound 
The music we chose to use for our film opening is from the horror film Insidious. The music is very scary and eerie which is quite a common convention of a horror film. In the first couple of scenes which are at the train station, we have not used any music as we thought that it would divert the attention from the dialogue. However, we have used sound effects in the first few scenes, the sound effect we have used is a train sound effect. Another reason as to why we have not used music straightaway is because after analyzing other horror films we recognized that the background music is usually built up slowly. The music starts when we introduce the park scenes, the music starts off at a constant sound and you can hear violins in the background. Whenever we have a shot that pops up, we have a bang sound to add more of an effect to it. This makes the scene more scary and tense as you don't know what's going to happen. We have faded the music in at the beginning and at the scene when the man is walking towards the girls. We have edited the music using the fade in and fade out transition so it sounds more professional. We have also fitted in another 'bang' sound for when the title pops up. 

Main task video

Below is the video of our main task 'What Lies Behind...'