Evaluation

Evaluation

As part of our media AS, the brief was to produce a film opening with titles that is no more than two minutes long. We decided that the opening of our film would be a thriller/drama, therefore we researched current thriller films that are already part of the media market. Our opening of our film includes a variety of different shots. A tracking shot has been used at the beginning of the film showing the young woman walk into the house, this is effective as it helps to establish the setting of where our film opening is taking place. We have used many close-up shots which enable the audience to see the characters facial expressions better and also have included an extreme-close up shot. We have used a point of view shot of the young woman looking out the living room which makes the shot more interesting. A behind the shoulder shot at the end of the opening of our film has also been used to build up tension and suspense.

 Who would be the audience for your media product?

In our film there is only one character who is a young woman, we are targeting our film according to who we think would be interested in watching a film like ours. We carried out market research using questionnaires where we asked our target group of ages 16-21 about thriller films they enjoyed watching. From our market research we gained more understanding of our target audience and concluded that they’d be interested in seeing an opening of a film that is exciting but yet realistic, therefore something that may happen in everyday life. We asked opinions from a number of people from different age groups, a 30-40 year old said ‘I rarley watch thrillers these days because I think ive grown out of them, I am not scared by watching them like I used to be’. After a 16-21 year old was asked the same question and replied ‘I love thrillers, horrors and dramas, I have probably watched more scary films then any other category’. From all of the reaserch we gathered it was made clear to Serena I that our film should be targeted at younger ages.

In what ways does your media product use, develp or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?

From our market research, we started to plan our opening of our film.  We then watched conventions seen within thriller/drama films such as ‘The Ring’ and other thriller films, this helped us as it enabled us to see how the conventions in the films were used. When choosing the name for our film we had a few options but ‘The Unexpected’ stood out for us and we both agreed on this name very quickly as it suits the opening of our film very well. In our research we found Art of the Titles very helpful as it gave us an ideas of what shots we could put our titles over that would stand out very well. We had to be careful where we placed the titles as we had to make sure they were in the correct place in every shot. When planning the opening of our film, we used digital storyboards where we drew each scene from an angle the shot would be taken at and then uploaded the storyboard on to the computer, however although our storyboard is  similar to our to our final opening, when filming we decided to make a few adjustments to different scenes to make our final opening of our film the best that it could be.

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

After research, Serena and I decided that the best production company to use would be Film 4 productions. Film4 is a digital television channel available in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, owned and operated by Channel 4 television cooperation that screens films. Film4 shows many drama/thrillers that are extremely popular with viewers such as ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’. We also decided that Hammer Film Production would be the right production company. Hammer is a London based production subsidiary of exclusive media and also legendary British film brand. Since its resurrection in 2007, Hammer has released Wake Wood and Women in Black. Hammer Film production has worldwide distribution and financial success therefore we decided that Hammer Film Production would be the right company to distribute our film as it is a company that focuses on the genre of our film which is Drama/Thriller.

How does your media represent particular social groups?

The opening of our film is set in a Middle class area in London, this is portrayed through the accent, body language and mise-en-scene the young women conveys throughout the film.  The first long panning shot makes it clear to the audience that the film is set in a middle class house from the surroundings of where the film is set. 

In the opening of our film we used natural lighting. We found natural lighting to work in both our inside and outside shots, however it does indeed limit some of the quality of the shots therefore this is indeed something where if there was a chance to film again, we’d plan better, as it would enable us to create even more of a more professional effect. However when editing in Final Cut Express, we were able to edit the contrast of a few of our shots to make them look even more dramatic, this helped to make the opening of our film look more professional. We used diegetic sound of the television which was extremely effective as it created a jumpy effect and also the sound of someone walking outside the house which helped to build up suspense. Non diegetic music has been used throughout the opening of our film.

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

During the production of the opening of our film I have learnt to use more complex computer applications such as Final Cut Express and also Garage Band. I am now extremely familiar with uploading footage on Final Cut Express, using the many different tools and also transferring music from Garage Band on to Final Cut Express. I have now learnt how and where to place titles in the right places of the shots which have helped to give then an overall professionalism. Firstly we decided to use music off Garage Band but Serena and I were not entirely happy with the sound therefore we asked a student who played the keyboard whether she would play an electronic keyboard and attach it to Garage Band for the opening of our film. Serena and I had a lot of input with the music that was created and ensured that it suited the opening of our film well. We then were able to edit the music on Garage Band to suit the storyline of the opening of our film.

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

Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that it has been extremely useful as I have applied elements that we have used whilst filming this task in the opening of our film such as continuity editing. I have learnt how to create a better standard and more interesting shots. After showing the opening of our film to 16-21 year olds, we put together another questionnaire to see how well they understood the opening of our film and whether they enjoyed it or not. We asked a number of questions which we thought would benefit us if we were to film the opening of the film again. From the questionnaires we gained better knowledge of what was effective in the film but also areas that we could improve on. On a whole people enjoyed the types of shots we used and found the music used throughout the opening of our film to be effective with the storyline. 

Christy Panayiotou