Tuesday, 5 April 2011

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



 In my preliminary task we decided to have a establishing shot of the classroom. But this only goes on for a split second so you cant really tell whats happening or where its being set. So i feel that if this shot went on for about 3 seconds it would have improved it.

So when i started using Adobe for our film opening i learnt to cut the right amount of footage so it didnt look jumpy or our of place. So this has helped me to improve continuity editing, so the finished results are perfect.


I also learned that even though we wanted to make it a horror in the style of The Blair Whitch Project, with that being filmed using a handheld camera it doesnt always give the best results as when using a handheld camera. I feel that we could have got a better image quality and better effect if we used a tripod for this panning shot. Simply becuase some of my face is missing and in a horror you want to be able to see every facial exspression for the best effect.



We have a match on action shot in the first few seconds of our film opening. 





I also used match on action in my preliminary task. When i go to open the door and then a shot when im walking in fron just opening the door.



In class we had learnt that we had included the 1880 degree rule, but we hadnt followed it properly because the whole point of our storyline is the fact that im being followed by someone i dont no so we gave the impression by breaking the rule by having the feet shot coming in the opposite direction would let people understand this. But im sure in the next film opening we would be sure to keep to the 180 degree rule.

This image again. In my final film opening i didnt have and establishing shot but i did in my preliminary task. This is because we had found out about a new range of camera angles that can express more information and knowlege of what is happening in that particular shot.




We used a variety of shots in our film opening. We used a high angle shot, that was acomplished by standing on a tree, we did this to show the vulnerabilitly of a young girl walking through a woods. Whereas in my preliminary task we used a low angle shot, to show how much power that particular character has over others. We used a lot of close up shots to show the facial expressions.

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


 Picture of hannah holding the camera.
 Picture of me holding the camera.
 The camera.
 The camera we used to film with.
Adobe Premiere Elements
We used this software to upload and edit all of the footage we had.
 Blogger
We used blogger to talk about what we did in each lesson to show the progress we were making.
Youtube
We created a youtube account to upload or final videos to share them.

How did you attract/adress your auidence?

Opening two minutes with annotations


We attracted our target auidence by putting our video onto youtube.

The genre of our movie is horror, so we chose key features that are stereo-typical to a horror film and put them into our movie. The music we used is quite fast paced because our storyline is about someone watching the main character so for that reason we chose to have up beat music. It's similar to other movies because its set in a woods and it has one main character that you follow through the first few minutes of the opening to the movie.

Who would be the auidence for your media product?

The target audience for our film would be mainly late teens to mid twenties. This would be because a popular activity for youth this age is attending the cinema, probably an effect of the media, predominantly through films using this as a 'pass-time' of characters.
Horror films, attract an audience of this age. Figures from the Grudge show that audiences are mainly males, who take up 55% with females slightly less at 45%. They most likely listen to 'pop' music - due to being consumer culture. Often, horror movies are promoted and discussed on social networking sites like Facebook, which has 500 million members, 50% of who log on each day. This use of viral marketing will generate a lot of interest in moviesl especially horrors. 

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

 DIRECTORS VOICE OVER COMMENTARY:

The production company for our low budget film is Ealing Studios. Which is a successful and historic company at the heart of the British film industry. They provided us with enough money to fund our film, but to not make it a big budget American type film. We will most likely use Entertainment Film Distributors as our distribution company, they've had successful campaigns with Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As out film is a horror, the company can help us gain as much profit through cinema release with advertising campaigns, and maybe Viral Marketing on popular social networking sites like Facebook to help generate interest among teenagers - our target audience. In 2011, they're also marketing Scream 4, another Horror movie which means they have experince in marketing this particular genre.
The money was given in parts from diferent British companies, such as the UK Film Council and National Lottery Funding. The credits are a few of the key figures in creating a film. The director has the vision, producer gets the elements to make the film; such as funding, actors, locations etc. The production company needs recognition for its contribution to the film making progress. Those positions where there are fewer poeple carrying them out, are more important in the overall finish of the film.


How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those characters and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume, role in film etc.

 Our film opening represents a stereotypical character that you would find in a horror movie. And by this we have represented her by showing that she is alone so she is vulnerable and weak.This stereotype is represented in many different genre's such as horrors, romace and often actions.


 Similarities 
They both have a similar look on their faces. They are showing the emotion of being frightened of something or someone.
They are wearing dark clothes, that are quite plain, which suggests that they arnt that important.
They are female which is common in horrors as females seem to be more vulnerable.

Differences
The picture on the left seems to be wearing more dark clothing as to the picture on the right is wearing a cream coloured jacket. 
It also seems that the picture on the left is a more lighter location whereas the location in the right picture is more darker so it's more night time their than the left picture.
Also the character in the top picture on the left is a blonde and they are stereotypically branded to be 'stupid' so therfore they are more easy to pick on.


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

Frame 9
The location and setting of this shot is still the woods. But you can only see me laying on the floor with a log that looks to have been used to kill me. In alot of horror movies one of the main characters is known to die at some point during the movie. We killed her off at the start so if the story carried on you would get to unfold the story.

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

Frame 8
The location of this shot is further in the woods. You can only see me small because I am running away. Typical action in a horror movie; the victim ends up running for their life.

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

Frame 7
In this shot the location is also the second woods as we filmed the walking footage. Its a shot of the shoes and part of the legs of the person that seems to be following me. This again with the fact that you cant see this persons face only their shoes gives it a horror effect as to the identity being unknown.


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

Frame 6
The location of this shot is in the woods. Its a close up of my eyes so you can see that im slightly scared and lokoing round to see who's there. We did this shot so the auidence can see the emotion that the character is feeling.


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


 The location of this shot is still in the woods. But this time the camera has been placed behind the tree's to make it look as if I am being followed by someone. The setting has been done like this so you feel as if you are the one that is following the main character.


Frame 5

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

Frame 4
The location of this shot is inside the woods so you can only see the character by herself and noone else around, so from this you have a feeling that something could possibly go wrong or something is deffinatly going to happen to this character. The setting is a high angle shot so you are looking down on the character and the character is looking around but noone is there.

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

Frame 3
The location of this shot is just entering the woods that we filmed the main parts of our film. The setting of showing me going into a woods adds to the effect that the auidence no that im alone entering the woods. Same dark clothes that will be worn by this character through out the opening two minutes of our film. This also relates to the typical horror genre because the auidence can see a young girl entering a woods all by herself.

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

Frame 2
The location of this shot is in the second woods. We only filmed the walking of the 'stalker' there because for the film I am being followed and when you cant see the persons face you dont no who they are. Hannah was wearing dark boots and dark jeans so shes not easily spotted. This setting of being a woods with just leaves that you can see adds an effect of not wanting to be recognised. This particular character has been introduced to the auidence in a different way. This being you cant see their face so you no that there is going to be something bad will eventually happen.

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

Frame 1
The location of this shot is in the middle of a green with tree's surrounding it with just trees and cars to show that she is alone with noone around.  I am wearing a coat and dark colours to suggest that i dont want to be seen or to attract any attention from anyone. The camera work is ofcourse handheld throughout the opening two minutes to give the effect that I am being followed. The font that has been used, is what we felt that would be used in a horror as its simple and doesnt distract you from whats happening in the film. The opening sets the scene because you get to me by myself and noone around so you no that if something was to happen their would be noone around to help. You can tell that our opening is horror because its set in a rural area and its deserted. The main character is introduced to the auidence by being followed by the camera.

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

The location of  our film openening for 'Hidden' is a stereotypical horror movie location; the woods, this location has been used in many horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and Scream. The woods as a location also helps to get the idea of me being alone in a deserted area so if something happens there will be no one to help; this makes her the typical horror genre victim, all alone and when faced with danger, will be helpless. Often in horror movies, the location is specific to a place where 'doom' or bad things are likely to happen --  so the woods help to suggest this. We used a handheld camera to 'follow' me through the woods -- this also makes it feel less like a perfectly placed camera and more like 'something'. There are quick cuts of me walking to another pair of feet -- this gives the opening some form of suspense knowing that im no longer the only person in the woods, but also that the audience don't know who this other person is.
The title style is fairly plain, this way the audience know director, producer, screenplay etc, but they are still focusing on the scene. The average font titles are typical of a horror genre, because over-the-top titles can often be cliche and ruin the mood of the film. The gradual introduction of the word 'Hidden' could build up suspense due to being longer if the movie was to carry on.
Im introduced as girl who is just walking home alone, but has to take the woods, often a sign of trouble. The character is introduced on my own and the panning camera shot helps show this. The story is set up through the shots cutting between me and an unseen person following mre; which indicates someone is following me and because you do not see their face, it means this person obviously isn't good.











Monday, 4 April 2011

Evaluation for Hidden - Feedback from class

There was a lot of useful feedback - both good and bad. Some of the points were ideas that me and Hannah hadn't thought of; which was good. One point was to use different locations, which I agree and disagree with. It was a useful comment because by using different locations it would add something extra to the film but by doing so, it would ruin the effect of the one location showing my characters isolation.
Another point which we agreed with but didn't know how effective it would sound, was the crunching of the leaves; but turning it down just a bit was useful advice too.