This is my completely finished film.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Evaluation Activity 1- What ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
1. Our title is on a simple black back with white thin simple font writing, this creates a sense of normality which quickly gets counteracted when the opening scene in is watched. It also gives the audience a break from the intense build up to the film itself in the title sequence. The black connotes mystery due to its dark colour with no other clues on what the genre is like without watching the film. Also the word 'Exhibit' creates a sense of confusion as they know its a horror genre now after noticing the conventions therefore the meaning must mean a murder weapon. Exhibit is a word that the police usually use to describe a weapon involved in crime so this creates suspense as they now have a vague idea on what they are about to watch.
2. Our settings and iconography was pretty straight forward and basic due to the resources available in our reach. We used settings outside on fields nearby the school so we were able to get to and from the setting easily.The time of day didn't matter too much as i knew that one of the effects i would be using was a black and white effect just to simply get across the horror feel to the audience.
3. The props we used were easy to get to as a member of my family has a large range if tools in his garage so i was able to get hold of two different types of axes to back up the characters obsession with them. As the character has anger locked away inside him he uses the axes to kill people which he hopes will make him feel better but it just makes him want to kill again and again. These are relatively easy for most people to obtain one way or another, so this creates a bit of realism in the title sequence by using these props.
4. We used a good range of camera angles whilst filming our title sequence and opening scene. Most of the shots we used were simple but effective and other became more complex as came to carry them out. But by using these complex shots, this draws the audience in as they are captured by the camera following the movement of the axe using a dutch tilt but repeatedly. We experimented several different shots so we had a wide range of choice in what fits the genre and what doesn't, some worked better than others and some didn't. After experimenting and having the knowledge of what shots fit the genre we planned our shots carefully. Especially in the title sequence as every shot is important as its the first set of shots the audience will see and that will determine whether they will watch the film or not.
5. For backgrounds we used our film footage so the information that the audience needs to show who is in the film flows along side the film itself. This has an effect on the suspense as its ever flowing so the audience don't get a break from the build until the title screen where the title is in a simple black background. A black background also represents time so the change from the opening scene to the news report is even more effective this way.
6. Our group believed that the opening of the film is also very important alongside the title sequence. We used the idea of the axe being the murder weapon being introduced at the same time that the characters do. Therefore this gets the audience thinking straight away if this is the antagonist, has he killed anyone yet, if so how. Many questions will be firing around the audiences minds so this will draw the min and make them want to watch more to find everything out. This is typical for a psychological horror film as it involves the viewer to think themselves about whats going on and whats going to happen, so we feel we have achieved our goal by making a psychological horror film.
7. The use of the axe, as mentioned before we thought we had to use in this frame as its one of the most important aspects of the film as the character becomes obsessed with the axe due to his father being murdered by one. The fact that the shot comes the car boots point of view is effective as when the boot shuts then it connotes the isolation that the character gives his victims. Also in another shot the striking of the axe shows the audience that the character uses aggression in the film, this is in the title sequence.
8. We only use one character in the opening scene and title sequence as we believe this becomes more effective for the audience to think, who else is in the film, who has he killed and how many. We use shots that suggest he has the power over his victims by showing his aggression in his strikes of the axe and also when we see a low angle shot pointing upwards to show the character is big and strong. These conventions are stereotypical for an antagonist in a horror film.
9. Special effects also became an important aspect to our films production as we feel without the special effects used we wouldn't be able to get across the characters attitude or feelings in the film. For example, the black and white effect we used signals to the audience that he doesn't think about things too much his mind is black and white he knows what he wants to do and does it with out too much thought. This also connotes that he is a dangerous character as he wouldn't think about what he is doing. Using the black and white also connotes mystery as the audience does not yet know why or even yet what the character has done, all they know is he is digging the ground with an axe. By using fades also between each shot and as the titles scroll on and off the screen it shows the victims come into the film and fade out again as the character kills them.
1. Our title is on a simple black back with white thin simple font writing, this creates a sense of normality which quickly gets counteracted when the opening scene in is watched. It also gives the audience a break from the intense build up to the film itself in the title sequence. The black connotes mystery due to its dark colour with no other clues on what the genre is like without watching the film. Also the word 'Exhibit' creates a sense of confusion as they know its a horror genre now after noticing the conventions therefore the meaning must mean a murder weapon. Exhibit is a word that the police usually use to describe a weapon involved in crime so this creates suspense as they now have a vague idea on what they are about to watch.
2. Our settings and iconography was pretty straight forward and basic due to the resources available in our reach. We used settings outside on fields nearby the school so we were able to get to and from the setting easily.The time of day didn't matter too much as i knew that one of the effects i would be using was a black and white effect just to simply get across the horror feel to the audience.
3. The props we used were easy to get to as a member of my family has a large range if tools in his garage so i was able to get hold of two different types of axes to back up the characters obsession with them. As the character has anger locked away inside him he uses the axes to kill people which he hopes will make him feel better but it just makes him want to kill again and again. These are relatively easy for most people to obtain one way or another, so this creates a bit of realism in the title sequence by using these props.
4. We used a good range of camera angles whilst filming our title sequence and opening scene. Most of the shots we used were simple but effective and other became more complex as came to carry them out. But by using these complex shots, this draws the audience in as they are captured by the camera following the movement of the axe using a dutch tilt but repeatedly. We experimented several different shots so we had a wide range of choice in what fits the genre and what doesn't, some worked better than others and some didn't. After experimenting and having the knowledge of what shots fit the genre we planned our shots carefully. Especially in the title sequence as every shot is important as its the first set of shots the audience will see and that will determine whether they will watch the film or not.
5. For backgrounds we used our film footage so the information that the audience needs to show who is in the film flows along side the film itself. This has an effect on the suspense as its ever flowing so the audience don't get a break from the build until the title screen where the title is in a simple black background. A black background also represents time so the change from the opening scene to the news report is even more effective this way.
6. Our group believed that the opening of the film is also very important alongside the title sequence. We used the idea of the axe being the murder weapon being introduced at the same time that the characters do. Therefore this gets the audience thinking straight away if this is the antagonist, has he killed anyone yet, if so how. Many questions will be firing around the audiences minds so this will draw the min and make them want to watch more to find everything out. This is typical for a psychological horror film as it involves the viewer to think themselves about whats going on and whats going to happen, so we feel we have achieved our goal by making a psychological horror film.
7. The use of the axe, as mentioned before we thought we had to use in this frame as its one of the most important aspects of the film as the character becomes obsessed with the axe due to his father being murdered by one. The fact that the shot comes the car boots point of view is effective as when the boot shuts then it connotes the isolation that the character gives his victims. Also in another shot the striking of the axe shows the audience that the character uses aggression in the film, this is in the title sequence.
8. We only use one character in the opening scene and title sequence as we believe this becomes more effective for the audience to think, who else is in the film, who has he killed and how many. We use shots that suggest he has the power over his victims by showing his aggression in his strikes of the axe and also when we see a low angle shot pointing upwards to show the character is big and strong. These conventions are stereotypical for an antagonist in a horror film.
9. Special effects also became an important aspect to our films production as we feel without the special effects used we wouldn't be able to get across the characters attitude or feelings in the film. For example, the black and white effect we used signals to the audience that he doesn't think about things too much his mind is black and white he knows what he wants to do and does it with out too much thought. This also connotes that he is a dangerous character as he wouldn't think about what he is doing. Using the black and white also connotes mystery as the audience does not yet know why or even yet what the character has done, all they know is he is digging the ground with an axe. By using fades also between each shot and as the titles scroll on and off the screen it shows the victims come into the film and fade out again as the character kills them.
Evaluation Task 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Similarities
These two are very similar in the way they feel and show their emotions in the films as they both have hidden anger and sorrow throughout both films. They are both clever about how they go about their business and carrying out the scenes in the films as they are always one step ahead of the victim or victims in our films case. This is stereotypical for a horror film genre as the antagonist usually is on top of the victims and is clever about drawing them in and carrying out the murder.
These two both have the same type of problem but they are on the opposite side of it. The character in my film has had his father murdered by an axe which therefore results in the character going on a massacre with axes until he finds the suspect. The character in the other film chosen has killed a little girl and is trying to everything in his power to cover up what he has done but in the end the mum and dad of the little girl find out it was him. This film we made abolishes the stereotypical teenager in a horror film due to the plot targeting aspects that teenagers don’t face in everyday life. This causes friction between the film and the audience and they become on edge.
Both characters have the same sort of emotion throughout the film as they both have anger and sorrow in them as mentioned above. But again, these are in opposite positions so although they are both at each end of the sort kind of dilemma they could relate to each other with their emotions. Also as these two characters are the main ones in the film, the emphasis on them so that emotion that they have is easily visible whilst watching each film. This has a knock on effect of the audience feeling sorry for the main characters which then creates more of a shock these do something bad as for a moment you were trapped in a sense of sympathy for the character because of their problems.
The characters in both my film and the film chosen react in similar ways as when they are both committing a crime they don’t get to phased about the whole situation and they are calm yet it is visible that inside they are nervous.
Differences
These two characters dress differently as the character in my film is in dark clothing with a hood up as he doesn't wanton be seen and the other character does his crime early in the and dresses normally so people don’t suggest he did it.
Also due to the we show minimal shots of our characters face to create confusion and wonder, the audience don’t know if he is attractive or not so they carry on watching to find out. Whereas the character in the other film is an older man who may be seen as attractive to the audience. The demographic may not choose to watch that film due to them making a judgement of his looks.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
Demographics
Our target audience is in the band of 18-24 year olds, both male and female. I would class this group of target audience in the D to C range as they are either still in full time education, the majority of these would be unemployed or they would be at the start of their career. The audience would probably all be around the middle to upper class category as well. Our film we made doesn't really have a specific race that we aimed at, it is aimed the age band and to all races, this is due to no religious content in the film. The target audience would watch the film because teenagers and the early 20s aged people tend to enjoy a horror film that is thrilling yet shocking. As a group we decided to aim our film at young adults as believed that they may have the same interests as us, or at least similar. Using this knowledge we feel that the film would appeal to the audience chosen as a result of the similar interests. By using the male as the antagonist we feel that the male population would enjoy the film as they may even be able to relate to issues he faces throughout the film but on the other hand, the female population may even enjoy seeing the opposite sex on screen and may be attracted to the character although he is doing the wrong thing.
Psychographics
The music i chose to include in my film is the main tension builder. We used this deliberately to give the audience a false sense of security as they could tell something was going to happen but they didn’t know when or if anything would happen at all. We thought teenagers would be our main target audience as the teenage generation may find the images more acceptable than an older generation. Though if we had to narrow it down even further, we feel females would be the most scared due to their stereotypical connotation of being more anxious and wary of their surroundings.
Psychographics
The music i chose to include in my film is the main tension builder. We used this deliberately to give the audience a false sense of security as they could tell something was going to happen but they didn’t know when or if anything would happen at all. We thought teenagers would be our main target audience as the teenage generation may find the images more acceptable than an older generation. Though if we had to narrow it down even further, we feel females would be the most scared due to their stereotypical connotation of being more anxious and wary of their surroundings.
Responses from the Feedback
Our group had similar feedback from each person so we had a solid foundation and an idea of what aspects we need to improve on. My editing in particular, I was asked to change my transition slides as they weren’t used effectively. I also had various comments about the music being the same tempo and it not changing the whole way through, so I had to go back and change these two. Another issue that was bought up was the fact my title was still and not a creative font so it didn't draw the audience in so i inserted an entrance and an exit transition to make it more interested.
Although, apart from those issues we got positive feedback on the title sequence and the opening scene as they said we used various types of shots at the right times and effectively. Whereas the minority did say the whole idea was quite misleading they became unsure of the real meaning of the film. As we only had a limit of 2 minutes it was very challenging to get across the full storyline and how the character acts in the film so we feel this is best we could do with the time allocated.
Also, in our first draft a big issue was raised on the quality of our first news report so we went back to the drawing board and created a new news report that we feel is more professional and fits in the with the film nicely. After tweaking and changing issues that raised we showed our final draft to the demographic and they were impressed with the improvements and believed that was a much better title sequence and opening scene.
Monday, 6 February 2012
Evaluation 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNWDdrqC6E4&context=C3494d58ADOEgsToPDskIJGyAD5Kzy6XqFPJIkxSfn
This is the video that i uploaded onto youtube and annotated how i have appealed my film to the target audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNWDdrqC6E4&context=C3494d58ADOEgsToPDskIJGyAD5Kzy6XqFPJIkxSfn
This is the video that i uploaded onto youtube and annotated how i have appealed my film to the target audience.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Evaluation 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The camera we used for our film was quite similar to what we have used in previous years at school so we had a slight advantage over timing as we already knew how to work the cameras. Due to us using a standard definition SD camera, to get a quality image in each we had to keep the camera still on a tripod and it became extremely difficult when we wanted to pan and perform the Dutch tilt with the camera. Although we feel our film quality would have been better if we had a HD camera we are pleased with our outcome of the film.
Editing on the LG and HANNS-G computers using 'Adobe Premier Pro':
As i edited individually instead of in a group I learnt a lot about editing and how i can a wide range of effects to exploit our aims of the film. I also learnt a lot of things that i did not include in the film like the pace and tuning effects on the soundtracks. I didn't use some of these due to the fact that i felt it does not fit the aims of the film. We were limited to the amount of effects we could use as we used Adobe Premiere Pro instead of using the Apple Mac software like other groups which was out of our control. Although in the film I edited I experimented with various fades and dissolves to see which fitting the genre the most. I then came to a conclusion of using a cross dissolves on the wording and a constant power audio fade. I also used a zoom in and out on the title screen. To give the extra edge on the horror genre I used a black and white effect throughout the title sequence.
I learnt a fair bit by using YouTube, although I knew quite a lot about the site anyway because i use it a lot in my social time. Firstly, I used YouTube to find horror film trailers that would inspire ideas for us to produce a good standard title sequence and opening scene. I also used YouTube when uploading my film to the site and I had to insert annotations to explain how i represented the horror genre throughout the film.
Google.co.uk was the search engine we used a lot on both our research and pictures we needed to create the films effects. For example, for our research we linked a character from a horror film that has the same characteristics as ours alongside some differences. We used this engine a lot more than we originally planned due to our research coming from websites we searched through Google.
Digital Voice Recorder:
Our group used a device like this to record our voices to put over each of our films. It was essential that we had a good quality of voice so that the voices are clearly heard. We used this voice recorder for evaluation task 3.
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