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

Comparing my preliminary task to my final product, it is clear that I have learnt and improved in the progression from one to the other. One thing that I have learnt in the progression is about framing and keeping a steady shot. In my preliminary task, we didn't use a tripod so some of the shots were quite shaky and unsteady. This makes it look unprofessional and quite rushed. For the filming of my final product, I used a tripod to keep my camera steady. This way, the shots looked much more professional and steady. Another advantage of using a tripod was that the shots were correctly framed where as in my preliminary task some shots were out of frame because of the unsteady filming. Using a tripod meant that we could get shots at a perfectly straight angle such as the long shot of Emily running and the dinner scene.

The preliminary task helped me learn about the different types of shots I could use and helped me to practice them as well and techniques like match on action shots and shot reverse shot. By practising them early on, this meant that when it came to filming my final product, I was confident that I could correctly frame and use a variety of shots as this is in my assessment objectives. I think that all or most of the shots used in my final product are correctly/well framed and used together it makes my final product more interesting that just using one or two types of shots.

I also feel that my editing skill has improved during the progression from preliminary task to final product. In my preliminary task, cuts were very simple and not as precise and maybe as thought out as in my final product. I certainly didn't use any of the other tools or more creative things such as filters or crops. My preliminary task was very basic in terms of editing, however we did add in an overlay which is where Becky and I started to experiment and discover what we could actually do using 'Final Cut Express'.

Finally, I think that I have shown progress by looking out for small details such as lighting, for example. In my preliminary task, there is a shot of Gemma where there is light behind her, causing her to appear very dark. In my final product, I made sure to be very careful to pay attention to small things like these as I think that they can ruin a film even if only slightly. I made sure that there was enough light in each shot of my final product to give the desired effect and made sure small things such as props were in place how I wanted each shot to look.

Overall, I think that there is a clear progression and improvement that can be seen when looking at my Preliminary task and my final product. I am very happy with the progress I have made and all the things that I have learnt throughout this project such as shots, framing and all the editing techniques on Final Cut Express.

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

Over the course of this project, I have learnt how to use different types of technologies to create my final outcome. Firstly, I made the most of my camera's video setting to record the whole of our film opening. I used a Canon 500d to record the clips as this was readily available to me and meant I didn't have to book the school camera which was limiting in terms of when I could use it as others wanted to use them too. this meant I could record when best suited for myself and Becky and also my actors as some of our times were very last minute planned. By using my camera, this also means we could shoot in 720p HD which meant that our film looks of a higher quality, however combined with editing and titles, Youtube can only show it as 420p which is still a very good quality.

The majority of what I have learnt about new technologies comes from working with the editing software 'Final Cut Express'. This was a much more professional and complex program that ones I have used before so it was as if learning from scratch. We firstly imported our clips into the program so that they were there and available to use in our project. We mainly used the V1 bar to put our clips in however some clips that we wanted to overlay we used them on the v2 bar and changed the opacity using the motion tab in the Viewer (square window on the left). I used the A1 and A2 bars for the same purpose except for with audio tracks that I used. By using the Viewer window, I was able to add filters and effects as I went a long and apply these to each individual clip. I used effects such a RGB balance to change the colour and Black and white filters. I also used the motion tab to change the opacity of a clip when doing an overlay or when fading a clip in and out, adding key frames.

When editing my video, I used various tools to help edit my film together to get a good finish with as little continuity error as possible. I used the Razor blade tool to cut clips to the right length and to cut out the parts I didn't need. This meant that I could cut down my footage to fit the time restriction and to cut parts together to show good continuity between clips. I used the snapping tool to make clips fit right after the other without gaps so that my film played continuously without blank parts in between clips and a seamless finish. Where clips looked slightly odd fitted next to each other, I added a transition effect. I stuck to used very simple and natural effect such as 'Cross Fade' which meant that these transitions didn't detract attention from the film itself yet meant that the clips flowed smoothly and looked good together. I used the pen too to mark points along both the audio and video clips where I wanted the video to fade in and fade out and where I wanted the audio track to do the same. To do this I marked a point at the beginning of the clip and the point where I wanted it to reach it's normal state and dragged the first clip down to the bottom so that it created a smooth fade. Similarly, I did this for the end however dragged the end point to make it fade out.

One thing I specially learnt was to create a split screen effect where two clips played simultaneously side by side. I learnt how to do this by watching a tutorial on Youtube. I was surprised to find out how quite simple it was to create however think it looks very effective when used in out film. I applied what I learnt from the tutorial to my film and am very happy with the result, however I think it could be improved by cropping the clip to add borders as I think this would look more effective when fading out as the central overlap doesn't fade out with the rest of the clips as fast as there are two layers.

Blogging has also helped me throughout this project. It has helped me to put and and portray my research and planning and ideas that I have come up with in this project. It has allowed me to present my work neatly and clearly so that others can view and see the progression clearly. By blogging, this can help audience feedback as it allows anyone to view and leave a comment. This means I can get a wider range of people giving me feedback rather than just feedback from friends which can sometimes be biased. 

5: How did you attract your audience?

I tried to attract my target audience in several ways. One of them was to use characters in my story that were of a similar age. I also chose to have one male and one female so that both genders could relate. By having them at a similar age to the viewers, this means that they can relate to problems the character may be going through throughout the story. This gives a much more personal feel to the film for the audience which can draw some people in and make it more enjoyable and or interesting to watch for them. To try an attract a slightly older audience, the characters are shown to be on a dinner date which is quite sophisticated for their age which can appeal to older audiences as this is something they are likely to do when dating.

I also attracted my audience through my genre. I wanted to address both the male and female audience, especially and specifically those who like horror films. I used props that are associated with horrors. The end scene of my film opening shows Jay about to stab Emily. This knife is a typical prop of horror films which relates it back to the genre and the theme of violence/murder/death, attracting the audience. Emily wears a dark red dress which has connotations of blood. This attracts the audience as it gives them the idea of horror and gore later on in the film which is what they party come and expect to see in a horror film.

I attracted the audience by using fast cuts and pace to make the film seem exciting and worth watching. I used jump cuts and various scenes of Emily running edited together to create a fast paced introduction to the film which would draw the audience in right from the beginning. However to keep a slight feel of softness and romance a few of these clips have a smooth transition whilst other have fast jump cuts to keep to the jumpy, horror genre.

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

I think that the main audience for my media product would be teenagers and young adults aged around 15-25. This is because, as a horror, it may contain scenes which could possibly make it a certificate 15 which many horrors and film of a similar genre are, especially as my film would contain murder and violence which may not be suitable for younger viewers. Obviously, this would only apply if I were to continue and shoot the whole of the film not just the opening two minutes. I would like to think that my film would appeal to both males and females as I have used a male and a female character of a similar age to what I would think my main audience would be. Also, the romantic parts of the film would typically appeal more to the female viewers whilst the horror and violence would typically draw in more of a male audience. This fits in with my initial target audience that I first wanted to address my film opening to.

 

By looking at other existing yet similar media products, I have looked at the certificate and target audience to get a more accurate idea of what my target audience would be. I have looked at psychological horrors because this would relate to my main character having visions, such as in Black Swan, where the main character Nina has hallucinations. I have also looked at slightly romantic horrors such as Let The Right One In where the young boy falls in love with the girl who is a vampire. Both films are certificate 15.

I was very surprised to see these statistics about audience for the film Black Swan, from IMDb. I was to surprised to see that far more males watched the film in comparison to females as it is a film very much based on ballet which is more stereotypically a females interest. The main audience for this film came from under 18's however it has been popular with all ages, gradually decreasing as the viewer got older. This means that my film may be able to appeal to a much wider audience than I originally thought and may appeal to and audience slightly older than 25 years old. I still think that under 25's will be the main audience for my film. I also still think my film will appeal to both male and females more equally than Black Swan as it has both male and female characters that could appeal to both genders, where as Black Swan's characters are mainly females which do attract a more male audience.

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

As my media product is a two minute opening to a film, one media institution that may distribute my film would be a film company. They would be involved in the creation, production and/or distribution of my film which can include paying, filming and editing of the film as well as marketing. As my film is mainly based in the Horror genre, a production company focusing on producing horror films may work with my film. An example of a famous Horror production company would be Twisted Pictures who produced the Saw films, so this is a possible production company that may distribute my media product. We know which production company is used as they usually have their own title shown t the beginning of the film. This is the title for Twisted Pictures:

Another type of media institution that could distribute my media product would be online video sharing websites such as Vimeo and Youtube. These allow the public to freely watch video clips online and share their own with the rest of the sites users. In association to my media product, they could be used in advertising the film across to a wider audience. My film opening or a trailer could be uploaded onto one of these site to promote the rest of the film and give a sneak preview of what it to come, especially as it ends on a cliffhanger it could persuade viewers to go watch the whole thing. Also this means that it can be send around the internet around the world through viral advertising meaning the audience it could possibly receive would be extremely large and varied.

Another possible media institution would be a television broadcaster if my film were to be shown on TV. This allows people to watch my film in the comfort of their own home  It could be shown on public service broadcast stations such as the BBC as they must show programmes to the public's taste which includes showing films every so often. It could also be shown on premium subscriber channels such as Sky Movies where viewers pay to get these extra channels made available to them. As these channels have a specific Sky Horror channel, it would be most suited to be played on that channel as it fit in with the genre the channel specifies in. This means that people interested in or that have a preference for Horror films can watch it.

My film could also be distributed via download on programmes such as iTunes. This would allow the user to buy or rent the film in the comfort of their own home at any time or place they want as this is available 24/7 and have it saved onto their computer which offers an alternative platform to view on rather than a dvd. This also saved space as the film is stored in the computers memory rather than a physical object. This is a very easy and fast method which is becoming more and more popular as computer technology is developing and appeals to a lot of people, especially those that do not have the time to go out and buy a dvd or people who don't live near a shop selling it.

Finally, my film could be distributed by selling it on dvd's. These dvd's would be sold in film shops or big supermarkets who stock various dvd's etc. This gives the user a hard, physical copy of the film which has been the favoured option for many years. This means the user can watch the film in the comfort of their own home whenever they like rather than going to watch it in a cinema. However this is limited to people who have dvd players in their homes however this is a majority and many computers/laptops are able to play dvd's these days which adds another platform option to the users choice.

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

My media product gives representations of particular social groups though the storyline, narrative and the actors I have used.

My film opening gives a representation that females are quite weak and defenceless as my female character appears to be the victim; the killer is about to stab her at the end without her being aware. This is quite stereotypical as women are seen to be weaker than men making them typically inferior. My film opening shows the female to be very vulnerable and naive. This is a typical representation of women in the Horror genre and in most genres. There is an ideology that women are weaker than men and therefore tend to be the victim more frequently in films, as they are thought of to be easier to attack and kill.

However, the female character in my film opening is the protagonist. I have shown this by having a lot of focus on her and she gets more screen time than Jay, the male character. This suggests that women are more important than men in this film which is not the stereotype set in society. It is unusual for a women to be the main character in films and Horrors in particular which means that my film opening represents women as a higher status and of more importance than men in society. It also contradicts the idea of women being weak as it gives her power and authority. Many films, in particular Horrors, have not had female protagonists until recently. And example of this would be the film Wolf Creek, 2005. Usually, in horrors, the main characters manages to survive until the end of the film. By having a female as the main character it hows them as being able to survive the horror and dangers in the film which suggests women as strong and as survivors.

The male character in my film is shown to be quite mysterious as we do not suspect he is the bad guy until quite late in to my film opening. Even then, we only get slight hints, a close up on his eyes before her vision, until the ending of my film opening where we discover him to be the antagonist for definite. As the killer, this portrays the male as being very violent and evil. This agrees with codes and conventions of the horror genre as the majority of horror films use males to play these roles. Also there is the ideology that females are too weak and innocent to play the role of a killer as they are not as powerful or evil as a man can be. My film represents the male as being dominant, as he is attacking the female character. However he is also represented as mysterious and quite sneaky as his role in the film is unexpected from the first part of the opening the viewer sees.

The shot of the two characters at the dinner table enjoying a meal presents them as being of middle class. The shot shows a very tidy, modern and simplistic home which looks very middle class. The candles and neatness of the shot show that effort has been put into the presentation for the date. The characters are shown to be drinking wine which suggests that they can afford alcohol rather than something non alcoholic, which would be at a lower price, with their meal and suggests them as being middle class. The shot suggests that there has been no expense spared and that the characters can afford to cook a meal rather than buy it readily made which also suggests the characters as middle class.

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

My media product, a 2 minute film opening of any genre uses, develops and challenges typical codes, forms and conventions of real life and existing film openings.

Dark Lighting For Horror

The genre I have decided to focus on for my film opening is mainly horror, however there are some elements of romance in it. The typical codes and conventions of a horror film would be to have a killer, a female victim, a dark atmosphere and causing some sort of fear in the audience. The typical codes and conventions of a Romance are a male and female character than fall in love however something get in the way of their relationship. Romance films usually end with a happily ever after ending. By using and mixing together codes and conventions of both types of genres I have developed the typical codes, forms and conventions of a horror film by combining two genres to create the hybrid genre 'Romantic Horror'.

Soft Lighting For Romance

This means that in ways, by having two genres to work with, it challenges the other genres codes and conventions. For example, a horror genre film would have very dark contrasting lighting where as in a romance the lighting would be very soft and bright. To combine both, my film uses both of these in contrast to each other. For the getting ready and dinner scenes where the main genre in play is Romance, I have used soft and quite natural lighting and the colours, where used, are natural yet bright and happy. To contrast to this,  I have used quite high contrast and dark colours for the horror scene, in comparison to the rest of the film, where Emily is running and where Jay is about to stab her. This means that my film opening uses and follows typical codes and conventions of both genres in terms of lighting and colour however as they are being used together in the same film, they challenge each other.

To try and bring both genres together, I have used a shot where the two characters are walking home outside. This shot is extremely dark and has connotations of horror because of the darkness, shadows and walking into the unknown however it is used to show romance as the shadows show the couple holding hands and the male character, also the killer, walking the female home after their date. This is an example of how my film opening challenges typical forms, codes and conventions.

I have used some of the typical codes and conventions of both Horror and Romance. From Horror, I have chosen to use dark lighting and shadow to create a dark and frightening atmosphere. For these parts of my film opening I have used haunting and suspenseful music to build tension and create a sense of fear among the audience. I have used a female character as the victim which is typical of horror and I have used a male character as the killer which is also typical. From the Romance genre, I have a male and female character that are interested in each other. We see them hold hands which suggests they may be in a relationship however her visions and the ending showing him killing her show that something must have gone wrong along the way which is typical of a romance film. I have used soft lighting and colour for the romance clips in my film opening.

Film Opening - 3rd Edit

After our second edit, Becky and I thought that we could make the meaning and idea of the vision more apparent to the viewer. To do this we decided to change the order slightly by having the shot of Jay's eyes before the vision and after before Emily looks back at him. This now suggests that he is thinking of doing something bad and directing these negative thoughts on her. It is almost an eye line match however it is broken up by the vision that Emily is having while he is looking at her.

With the vision, we decided to have an overlay of the shot of Emily staring over the shot of Emily running away from something or someone. The shot of her is kept in black and white while the vision itself is in colour to represent the different times or present and future. We felt that this made the vision more apparent and clearer to viewers than in out first and second edits.

We have not yet managed to fix the colours that Youtube is changing, hopefully we will manage to find a way before our deadline.

Film Opening - 2nd Edit

After getting feedback from our teacher, we decided to change around the order of our shots to try make the meaning and concept of our film more apparent to the viewer. Instead of a jumpy non linear structure we changed and moved our shots around to fit a more chronological order which made the film opening much easier to follow and understand. Our opening now starts off with the getting ready scene where both actors are getting ready for their date. This is then followed by the dinner scene where we see our actress have her first vision. This then lead on to her running and then we see her with the killer right at the end.

Our second edit of our film opening also include the actors titles. They appear at the end of the getting ready scene above and below their clip during the split screen. We have chosen to use the same font as the titles I created in the programme LiveType so that they match the rest and don't look out of place, even though they don't appear in the same way as the other titles. We have chosen to have Emily's title above her clip where as Jay's title below his clip as this could suggest status or importance of the character in the film.

We tried to fix the strange colours on some of the clips however Youtube has still made these parts of the film appear very dull and not how they appear on screen normally when using Quicktime or Final Cut Express. We will have to ask our teacher or seek advice on whether this can be fixed or improved.

Preliminary Task

At the beginning of this project, I was asked to create and edit together a preliminary task in a group to practise filming and editing before starting my actual film opening and project for this year. The criteria for this task was to film someone going through a door and having a conversation with someone. We needed to keep to the 180 degree rule, include an action match shot and shot reverse shot.
This is my groups final preliminary task:

Film Assessment Criteria

Our film opening is marked on the quality and techniques used when filming. For a level one there must be minimal evidence, basic evidence for a level two, evidence of proficiency for level three and excellent evidence for a level four.

This is the assessment criteria I need to meet and how I meet it:

- Holding a shot steady where appropriate.
I have used a tripod to keep shots level and steady especially if filming one shot for a long time. For short shots such as a closeup on the hangers in the wardrobe I kept the camera steady by standing still in a good steady stance while supporting the arm with the camera at the elbow with my other hand so that it caused minimal or no movement and camera shake.
- Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
Before hand, I planned out a storyboard showing me how each scene/shot should be framed and looked at a sheet explaining each shot and what elements should be included and excluded. I positioned the camera correctly to include/exclude elements where appropriate and hopefully this shows though in my opening.
- Using a wide variety of shot distances where appropriate:
In my film opening, I have used a wide range of shots and types of shots. I think I have used a lot, including Extreme long shot, Mid shots, Closeups, Extreme close ups, Tracking & Panning. I have experimented with different shots for the same scene then choosing which looks best when it came to editing the clips together.
- Shooting material appropriate for the task set.
For my film opening, I used my storyboard to guide me through which shots and what material I needed to shoot each session. I shot this primarily however, I shot extra footage incase something didn't work or had an idea that could be added into our film but would still be relevant to the overall story and synopsis I decided on earlier.
- Selecting mise-en-scene, colour, figure, lighting, setting and objects:
I selected appropriate mise-en-scene that was relevant to what my film opening was about and that followed typical conventions of similar genres. I filmed in a forest for the horror scene of my film opening as this is a typical location of horror films. I set the date scenes inside having dinner as this is a typical scene in romance films. I had a female and a male to act in my film opening as in romance films this is typical when they are dating or like each other and in horrors the male is usually the bad guy and the female the victim of the story. We used natural and quite dark lighting for the outdoor horror scenes to show the progression through the day and the darkness to show horror. The lighting for the romance scene is very soft to contrast to this.
-Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer:
I have made our film concept, a girl who has visions, apparent to the viewer by choosing to have different times eg the present, past and future, in colour and black and white to separate them and make each clear to the viewer. I have also used different pieces of music for different scenes of my opening to give each a different and clear atmosphere so the viewer knows what is happening or what may be about to happen. 
- Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately:
I have used the fade in, fade out and cross dissolve transitions between shots to make the transitions much smoother and softer to make my film opening flow much nicer and makes it more pleasant and easier to watch. However I have also decided to use jumpy, sharp cuts where appropriate to give a much different mood to the opening.
- Using sound with images and editing appropriately:
I have chosen to use sound in my film opening and have matched the music I have used to what is happening in the shot. I have chosen not to use dialogue in my film opening to keep the characters quite mysterious. The tracks I have used to accompany my different shots is relevant and appropriate to the mood I want to create in each section of my film opening.
- Using titles appropriately:
I have used titles appropriately by selecting a reasonable number of titles that we can use and are relevant such as institution, actors and directors and added these into my film opening at appropriate times, for example the actors titles show up when they are introduced into the film.