Grace - EVALUATION

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

The conventions of a thriller are shown in the spider diagram. Our thriller incorporates the crime and murder convention and the antagonistic - protagonistic narrative structure.
It also contains voyeurism, which is a general convention of thrillers.

However, we do challenge some thriller conventions such as the lack of a male lead. In most thrillers the lead character is male but in ours the lead is female and the developing character gets stronger as the film progresses.

Our thriller is a psychological thriller with some crime. This is indicated through the flash-back to the antagonist performing the killing and through the voyeurism. The voyeurism causes the audience to wonder who is watching the action - is it them? Is it Amy? Is it the antagonist? This psychological confusion is created by jumping between different perspectives and camera angles - between the body, camp fire and the POV shots in the different scenes.

Each group member came up with a story idea and we chose one of these to develop. The final storyline was created from my original idea. I was influenced by my location and some aspects of the crime convention in CSI. As I live on a farm, I know how scary it is at night and this gave me ideas on what sort of effects could be created if we filmed there.

How does our media product represent particular social groups?

The social group represented in our media is white males and females around the age of 17.

Gender representation in most thrillers I've seen include a stereotypical male lead for example in the film crank (watch from 2.40 to 3.45), all the focus is on the male lead who has to keep his adrenaline pumping. But ours is not stereotypical of gender because it has a female main. The secondary lead could be male or female, however from the stance and style of the figure the assumption is that they are male.

However, this is not revealed in our opening so this is not proven. The antagonist is very dominant as we see from the flash back, and both the victim and the protagonist are the vulnerable females which are general thriller conventions.

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

Our film could be produced by a major Hollywood studio as it contains all the major thriller conventions and challenges consumers.

If our film were to be released it would be a TV movie because our target audience (15-30) includes students still in school or university who tend to watch more TV. Our film probably would not be an Internet release only film as it is aimed at an audience who are more likely to watch TV than spend time searching the Internet for thriller films.

Our film would offer opportunities for franchises such as video games and investors. Merchandising could offer opportunities to make money through the making of t-shirts, mugs and posters. Also money could be made through DVD sales. Posters would appeal to our target age group as they are likely to be young people who like decorating their rooms with posters.

Who is the audience for our media product?

Our film is made to appeal to young adults aged 15 to 30. However, this is not to say that others older would not enjoy it. I would certificate our opening sequence as a 12A because it includes some violence and horror (the killing) but this is moderate and not frequent. The guidelines for classification are on the following PDF (please copy and paste into your browser):
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/downloads/pub/Guidelines/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202009.pdf

How did we attract/address our audience?

Our audience profile is both genders between the ages of 15 and 30. One of the ways we attracted this audience was by using characters of a similar age, for example the group of friends around the camp fire are all meant to be 17+ and the antagonist and victim are slightly older, aged 20-25.

We also attracted our audience by making the flashback brutal and violent to increase the tension and to confuse the audience as to what is going on. However, a younger audience could be terrified because of the jumping between angles and because the sequence is in black and white to make it dark and show that it is a flashback.

We used two cameras to film the same action from 2 different angles to create an interesting effect when jumping between the two. We jumped between shots to make the opening run fast and build up tension. We used Point of View (POV) shots to make the audience unsure of whose POV the action is being seen from, which makes it a psychological thriller. We used a high angle establishing shot at the beginning to show the audience where the action is taking place and to introduce from a distance all the characters and the situation.

Throughout, the audience are asked to put themselves either in the position of Amy or watch the action themselves. They are able to witness what is happening to Amy as well as the positions she is in. They also witness what she sees in her mind when the flashback occurs. This allows them to see character development and allows the audience to be in Amy's position.
This creates suspense by them not knowing whose point of view it is from and who is meant to be seeing it happen? - The audience, Amy or the antagonist? This is what also causes it to be a psychological thriller because it jumbles things up in the audiences mind.

The music and sounds used attract the audience because they build suspense, eg. a mix of the feet walking through the leaves and the eerie sound of 'Scary Playground' over the top. Since the music had to be copyright free we used the websites below and got permission:
http://www.enetiworld.com/Enetiworld/Music.html
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Horror

The mise en scene we created was one way we attracted our audience, shown below: (click the image below)

Only 2 props were used in our thriller but these were major to creating the suspense that we needed.

The video below shows how the knife works, without causing harm:

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

One of the main problems we experienced during filming was the camera batteries were not charged, but as we used 2 cameras we were able to leave one on charge while we used the other, as the scene we were filming at this point didn't require 2 angles. We experienced problems with a generated light as the generator made too much noise and so overpowered all of our speaking. We resolved this by re-filming the parts with the problem without the generator, using a different power source.

Another problem with the re-film was that we had get back the actors that we had before as other scenes that we had already filmed included some of those from the original footage. We managed a date where most who were in the original footage were available and others replaced those who could not attend.

One piece of new equipment that I had never used before was the gels which changed the colour of the light. We used a blue one in the killing sequence and this deepened the colours but enhanced the knife as the light caught it. We turned the final killing sequence into black and white to give a better effect because the blue gel used didn't make the scene dark enough.

I have learnt more about the use of final cut express and what the tools and features do. Since the preliminary task I have learnt how to add effects.
One useful effect was the cross dissolve as it was a way of showing time passing. I also learnt how to make the sequence black and white.
One interesting feature was the speed effect. We sped up part of the flashback where the knife is pulled away from the body. In final cut express we edited the music and sound using the sound bar so there was no need to use garage band. (to view image please click on it)

One thing I found useful was the amount of filming that we did. We asked our actors to repeat the same parts 4 or 5 times so that we could get a good range of takes and any problems that occurred could be discarded. We did takes with different light and different angles which helped us when we came to edit because if there were any problems we were able to use a different take and combine takes to get a sequence that we liked. Using this process we got many outtakes from it like the one below:

Looking back on the preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Throughout the planning and research we worked well as a group to put our ideas together to create the final outcome. We brought together our different interests and knowledge to create the camera angles and effects. (to enlarge image please click)

Storyboarding was one of the hardest parts of the project because we had to think about our sequence of events and try to create a frame for each. As a group our storyboard was successful and we were able to easily follow it when filming. The image below is a sample of our storyboard. (please click to enlarge)

The practice filming that we did a few weeks before our final filming allowed us to make changes to our storyboard. We were able to work out what lighting would need to be changed and what angles. It allowed us to see which gels would work best for lighting effects and where the light needed to come from to illuminate important features.
You can view our practice filming on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/nfgsearth#p/u

Since the preliminary task I have a better understanding of the shot types and how to use them. We used many different camera angles within our piece, one of the most used being POV shots. We also used simultaneous time to show that the group of friends were carrying on as normal while Amy was wondering through the woods finding the caravan. This is shown where the scream is heard by the friends.

I feel much more confident with all the equipment than I did in the preliminary task. This is because in the meantime I had practiced with the camera and got much more experience during the filming process. I had a lack of understanding on how to use it before we had started our filming. The practice filming and testing helped me to gain confidence and understanding. I now understand how to set up all the equipment and how to use it.

Overall we have met the task requirements of making an opening to a thriller. It meets our aim of making a psychological thriller that creates suspense and confusion.
I asked some viewers for their opinions on the opening and their feedback is on the following link: http://nfgsearth.blogspot.com/p/audience-feedback-grace.html

Editing

We completed our editing on friday and have exported it to be burnt to disk.

We are pleased with the outcome and have now began our evaluation.

Titles

After looking at what both Jonny and Henry have suggested i feel that we do need a shorter title and i like the title 'unknown'.

I feel that if 'the' was added before it then it draws attention away from the one word effect.

I agree with what Jonny said about one word titles bringing fear and suspense.

I like this and think for the purpose of our film it would be the best title to go for.

Meeting 21 - 03/03/10

Everyone attended today.

We used our lesson as well as one of our study periods to get to were we are now. In the last lesson we were able to gather clips ready to insert in the main sequence which is what we did today.

Between us we arranged more of the sequence and continued to add to it, as well as discussing what we still need to include, actors names are one of the things we are yet to add. We also talked about the title and agreed that it was too long and so needed to be shortened or a new title come up with.

On the editing day (05/03/10) one of our main targets is to arrange the shots in a more accute manner, so that it holds our target audience in suspense whilst at the same time showing our technical skills with the camera.

Tomorrow we aim to FINISH THE EDITING PROCESS.

The title to our film

After spending sometime looking at the outline to our full story to try and make a decision on the title, we decided to make to lists. One for the main male character and one for the female to try and put some words together to make our title.

Him - hunted, death, night, disappearance, strange, cloak, chasing, shadows

Her - disappearance, thoughts, stronger, psychic, happening(s), hidden

Film - meeting, details

After looking at these words we we thought about the story details and the part where her things disappear and other things reappear and came up with the title

'ATTENTION TO DETAIL'

Meeting 20 - 25/02/10

All Attended.
Today was simply a continuation of yesterday's work, editing through the 'Woods' sequence. This time we focused more on the non diagetic music, trying to use the music more appropriately and build it up towards the end to create tension and an air of mystery ready for the upcoming sequence. It was also discussed that we should intertwine shots of her walking through the woods with quick shots of a 'presence' in the midst of darkness to speed up the action, as it is fairly slow to start.

Meeting 19 - 24/02/10

All Attended.
Today we continued to edit sections of our uploaded footage. We made the opening shots shorter as we all felt it dragged on too much, believing that this would fail to capture our audience's attention. We also found how to vary the levels of sound in the film through Final Cut Express. This will be useful as we do not want our audience to become immune to parts of our film(immunisation model) because they have been exposed to the same material for so long that it has no effect on them. We added a close up of the main character early on in the sequence so that the audience can establish who she is, then we can put more focus upon her and carefully start detach her from the group around the camp fire.

We will continue to edit through this week with a view to getting at least one scene of the film fully edited by Friday (26/02/10)

Titles

I was thinking about Henry's title idea Shadows and The Deathly Silence and thought the may work well together to make 'The Deathly Shadows'.

However, I dont know whether our title should refer to Amy rather than the attacker.

Meeting 18 - 10/02/10

Today all were in the lesson.
We uploaded the re-filmed footage and reviewed it. We all felt that it was much better than last time.
We started to put this in place of our previous filming.
The uploading took most of the lesson because we had a problem with capturing it onto the computer and we have yet to still capture some. We tried lots of different cameras as we thought it may be a problem with the camera but this made no difference, so Grace is going to try the tape in her video camera at home to see if it is a problem with the tape.

Re-filming - 05/02/10

Unfortunatly Henry could not attend the re-film but as he had been there before he knew what was going on.
However we were uable to use the forklift this week as there was something wrong with it but this was fixed by using a tractor instead to gain the height.
Overall the filming went well and we didnt have to use the generator this time. Grace also thinks that the acting was better as we had an extra peron to the nuber before which added to the action.
We hope that this was a success and next time we are all together we will upload the footage and begin to edit it.

Meeting 16 - 05/02/10

All Attended.

We continued to edit clips filmed, focusing on getting the sound to syncronise with the piece of film. The pieces of film we looked at was the 'Opening Credits' leading into 'Through the woods' scene with our main character.

Grace showed Henry and Jonny the video effects she had found from the previous lesson. Now they both understand what is available in 'effects' and how they can be altered.

On Friday afternoon/evening Grace and Jonny, along with our main and supporting characters, will reshoot the opening sequence because of the unfortunate sound problems encountered last weekend. Henry is unable to attend but will keep up to date with the progress made this weekend via the blog.

Titles

It is very hard to come up with a title as most that come to mind that will fit in with our storyboard have already been taken. However i have managed to come up with some:

The Dark Stalker
At Nightfall
The Follower

Meeting 15 - 4/02/10

Today all attended.
Jonny unfortunately had to leave early but this didn't effect our work as we just continued to look at editing our film.
We (Grace and Henry) started working on another frame of our storyboard and managed to synchronise the sound with the action that was on screen as we had to take sound from one area and used it elsewhere.
Grace also played around with final cut express and looked further into making the sequence a little brighter to make the action clearer.

Video Effects

Today I played around with the video effects to try and make the woods sequence slightly brighter and have found out how to do this so will show the group next time. It makes the sequence much clearer and brighter but still creates the effect as though it is in the dark.

Meeting 14 - 03/02/10

All Attended.

Today we focused on continuing to edit particular pieces of our filming from last weekend. We also looked through the filmed shots that we had uploaded from last time but not viewed as a whole, to see if the camera shots, lighting and sound were at a good standard. We were happy with most of the shots we took it is mainly the sound and lighting that is causing problems. We also considered a titles for our film, Henry has already come up with a few whilst Grace and Jonny said they will do the same in coming lessons.

As discussed this week, we plan to re-film the very start of our sequence as we are now aware that by using the generator to gain extra light in certain shots, we lose alot of the natural and ambient sounds within the film. We thought about overlaying non diagetic sounds but are very aware of overusing this technique, we want the music tracks to add to the suspense and tension of the film not ditract from it. Over the couple of weeks we will continue to edit filming trying out different effects in Final Cut Express as we go.

Opening Title Sequence

Below is the opening title sequence that we have come up with.

Logos

Below are the logos that we constructed for our opening sequence

Meeting 13 - 29/01/10 to 30/01/10

All attended at Grace's house.

Friday: Max Gibbens, Lewis Rendell, Rosie Hogg, Jack Banks and Abi Carsberg were able to get to Grace's and film the parts with multiple actors and the killing of the deceased victim. This was successful. We also looked over our opening sequence and came up with logos for our company.

Saturday morning: We uploaded the raw footage that we had taken on Friday evening. We began importing it into our opening sequence on final cut express, to see if it worked in the places we wanted it to go and that it was fully syncronised. One problem with our footage, was that when we used a generated light, the noise of the generator was picked up too well by the camera. This meant that it was the dominant feature in our footage instead of the noise made during the action. We have come up with a solution to this, which is to re-record the sound and then place this over the top of the old sound to cut out the generator. However, if this does not work our only other option is to re-record the whole of the footage.

Saturday afternoon/evening: Abi returned and we filmed the woods scene with her. Since our problem with the generator from Friday, we knew that we had to do something about the noise of the noise of it. We decided to record the footage with the generator on, so we had the light and then we re-recorded it without the light and when it comes to editing we will overlay the sound without the generator onto the footage.

Saturday evening: We finished filming our storyboard but until this has been fully viewed it is unknown to us whether the outcome is what we expect. We uploaded our latest footage to final cut express. We will start to view and edit this next time.

Meeting 12 - 29/01/10

Everyone attended today.
We reviewed the uploads that Grace did of the videos last time.
We all then played around with final cut express working on our opening titles and looking again at the fonts we had short listed.
We changed our production name from Drunken Duck Productions to Nightmare Productions as we felt that our Drunken Duck Productions was a bit comical for the Thriller Genre.
We continued to work on our opening titles sequence and have constructed this how we would like it to be but there are still some changes to be made later.

Practice Filming

If the videos below fail to work please go to our youtube page.