My group included-
Elizabeth Aubury - 2010
Katie Thompson - 2256
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Short Clips
I have uploaded the three short clips below to link in with descriptions and questions within my Evaluation. The first short clip shows my groups use of: Font colour, Font style, Background Music
This links to my horror conventions description in Question 1 of the Evaluation.
This links to my horror conventions description in Question 1 of the Evaluation.
The second short clip shows my groups use of the green screen in the first few scenes of our opening.
This links with my new technologies description in Question 6 of the Evaluation.
The third short clip shows use of sub point of view, forward tracking and other camera angles.
This links with my improvements description in Question 7 of the Evaluation
CLIP TWO AND THREE HAVE SOME HOW BEEN ELONGATED SO THE START OF THE FILM IS SHOWING, THE AREA TO FOCUS ON IS THE LAST FEW SECONDS OF THE SHORT CLIP WHICH LINK TO THE DESCRIPTION
CLIP TWO AND THREE HAVE SOME HOW BEEN ELONGATED SO THE START OF THE FILM IS SHOWING, THE AREA TO FOCUS ON IS THE LAST FEW SECONDS OF THE SHORT CLIP WHICH LINK TO THE DESCRIPTION
Monday, 29 April 2013
Media Evaluation
Media Evaluation
1.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our media product my
group created a short film opening for a horror movie. Our film is based on a
breaking news report about a series of killings in a local area. During the
opening we wanted to try and include some of the common conventions usually found
within the horror genre. After analysing our film I feel we have incorporated some
clear conventions and aspects. We needed to include a range of conventions to
attract fans of the genre, without these conventions fans would not be
interested in watching, so we needed to make it similar to other successful
horrors and mimic some of the key conventions they use to attract the audience.
Firstly the incidental
soundtrack at the start of our opening (Final count – Freesound.org) includes
loud repetitive drum beats, these drum beats grow in speed and volume as the
opening progresses. We decided to use this type of music as it suited the
overall mood and genre of the film, not only did it immediately inform the
audience on what type of film it would be but it gave the opening a dark, dull
and suspenseful atmosphere similar to that of other horrors. We created our
opening soundtrack in the style of the opening for Candyman, after researching
different horror film openings, Candy man’s repetitive, loud, instrumental
soundtrack that is played over the first Ariel shot really inspired the style
and sound of our opening. It truly reflected the type of soundtrack you would
want to hear in a successful horror. I think our development and use of sound,
specifically incidental music, throughout the film is the best convention, we
have used 3 different soundtracks in different areas of the film that suited
the scenes that it would be played over, for example the soundtrack that is
played over the scene where the cameraman is running is very dramatic,
instrumentally the piano describes the emotions surrounding the characters well
and the tone and pace fits nicely with the amount of dialogue and action within
the scene. It fits well because the speed at which he is talking and running
matches the speed of the music, it complements the character and creates a
fluent end product.
When looking at all the
different styles, effects and aspects we could incorporate into our film we
wanted to use all the typical conventions of horror and link each and every one
together, we wanted to do this so we could build and create a good
representative of the horror genre. Firstly we wanted to combine the music used
in the opening with the style of credits, to do this we needed to create the
credits in a recognisable horror style. When producing our titles and credits
we needed to think about the colour scheme and font type and which suited our
genre best. (See short clip 1) After looking at the possibilities we found out that there weren’t
many styles that suited our opening. Even though there where fonts that
depicted horror elements, I felt they were too excessive for our scene, our
horror film isn’t about blood and gore; it is more psychological and has
elements of thriller combined with horror. Therefore we went with a style of
font that allowed us to fade the colour into the background; we felt this was
suitable as it went well with our film title ‘The unknown’. It suited the film
title because the gradient and fade option gave it a mysterious and shrouded appearance
which resembles the type of character the killer is. Because our font type
didn’t clearly portray a ‘typical gory horror film’ we wanted to make the font colour
a typical horror style. We chose red because it resembles many areas of horror
and in many ways links to the story line of our film.
The colour red depicts:
Blood- Our opening doesn’t
show any blood, but does show a dead body which indicates there is likely to be
blood later on in the film.
Danger- We included many
elements of danger in our opening, significant amounts where the news reporter
is chasing the source of the scream and at the end where the killer is coming
towards him.
Death- In the middle of
the film the reporter discovers a dead body.
Anger- Towards the end after they have discovered the
body the reporter and cameraman are angry and shocked about what they have
seen. Quote Reporter Character ‘‘I DON’T KNOW WHATS GOING ON!’’ we were
inspired to use red as our primary credit colour because of the film se7en, the
title for se7en shows sinister style writing and dark red colour, we wanted to
incorporate similar styles for our film credits because it is effective at
representing the horror genre.
Throughout the 3 minute
clip we used quite a few different camera angles, the ones that stand out the
most and clearly show conventions of horror films are: subject point of view
and high angle. We used subject point of view when the cameraman was running to
find the source of the scream during the middle part of the opening, I feel
this is a successful and useful camera angle to use whilst filming a horror as
it makes the audience feel like they are experiencing the characters emotions
and feelings at that point, in this sense the cameraman character is scared and
panicked, we can tell this by the quick and unsteady way he is holding the
camera and the heavy, panicked panting in the background, by making the
audience feel the same emotions as the character we hit our target as horror movie producers to make our audience
scared and unnerved. Towards the end of the film when the killer picks up the
camera and is filming him-self coming towards the reporter we incorporated a
high angle shot. When the audience have established that the killer is the one
in possession of the camera, the high angle really portrays the killer’s power
and dominance over the other characters, the way the camera is faced looking
down at the reporter really express how helpless and vulnerable he is and the
audience can clearly see who has the power between the two characters.
During the editing of our
film we incorporated many different styles and techniques. One significant area
of editing was the use of the green screen. We used the green screen whilst
filming the news room scene; I like how the green screen has the ability to
place any image or video behind characters. It was very useful whilst filming
our news scene as we didn’t have access to a news room or time to create one
ourselves; it gave our shot a very realistic outcome and overall made the scene
more believable for our audience. Another aspect of editing was the inclusion
of the white noise, like the green screen it made our film much more realistic
and I feel the areas it was used where specific and relevant to the storyline.
One particular part of the story where the white noise is used well was the end
of the news reporter’s line where we hear the scream. Instead of cutting back
to the studio, the few seconds of white noise told the audience straight away
that something is wrong and also makes the audience start asking questions in
their head. Why is the camera not working? Where did the scream come from? Etc.
The white noise builds anticipation and suspense surrounding the viewers and
overall gives the film a more realistic effect in line with the unknown aspect
of the horror genre.
We incorporated many areas of mise-en-scene when producing
the film, and tried to portray typical horror conventions. One aspect of
mise-en-scene was the location/setting of the field news report. The area we
filmed in was only part of the school field. We filmed near two ditches that
resembled marsh land; it was very over grown and grassy. Even though we filmed
so close to the school, the way in which we filmed only the fields and ditch.
The setting conveys the horror genre by giving the film a secluded atmosphere,
behind the character it looks very isolated, and there is no clear sight of
areas with high population or residents. This puts across to the audience how
alone and vulnerable the victims and the news reporter are. Also a few glimpses
of fencing show that the area could be inaccessible to the public and acts as a
barrier, creating the idea that there is no way to get in or out, so the
killers victims are even more vulnerable. All of this creates an even more
secluded and scary atmosphere surrounding the setting and the report, making
the audience feel scared for the characters well-being and possibly waiting in
suspense for another attack? Se7en as well as influencing our style of credits
also inspired our choice of setting, in se7en the scene were the killer is shot
is filmed in an isolated, secluded field similar to ours, we took inspiration
from this scene because of how unnerving, derelict and remote this type of
location is, it expresses typical conventions and characteristics of horror by
surrounding the characters with a sense of fright and isolation which in turn
is felt within the audience. I
challenged the conventions of horror by incorporating another genre into the
opening; during the end of the film we tried to incorporate comedy aspects, we
were inspired to include this sub-genre after watching the opening to
comedy-horror ‘Shaun of the dead’. We included this towards the end where the
news reporters are sitting in the studio bored and the male character starts
acting childish and immature, this small aspect of comedy challenges typical horror
films as we are not only incorporating the common conventions but also adding
in new ways and ideas to produce our film and sell it to the audience.
2. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
In our movie opening we
have represented different social groups. If I look at gender for example in
our film we are quite even with the amount of power given to men and women the only
scene where men maybe seen more powerful than women is towards the end of the
film. Towards the end of the film the news reporter comes across a dead body
found in the ditch. The body is of a young woman, this could show women as
being the weaker sex or they are unable to fend or fight for themselves. This
depicts women as being vulnerable and helpless, no man is seen dead and in the
news story at the start the victims are not gender specified. Towards the end
of the film where the two news readers are sitting unaware and bored in the new
room, the male reporter is seen throwing paper into a bin and messing around
with his spinning chair. This could portray men as being childish. Whereas the
woman leaves during his antics showing she and women are sophisticated and more
mature. Other than these scenes gender
and the dominance surrounding it is evenly spread throughout the film. We have
no other clear areas of social class in our film other than occupation. The
only occupation that is seen throughout the clip is news broadcaster, reporter.
The costume of the news reporters is smart dress, the men in suit and tie and
the woman in dress and blazer. This could interpret this occupation as being
smart and well-kept it could also signify that they are well paid and like to
look after themselves and make sure they look presentable. Also the fact they
are news reporters creates the idea of them being well spoken and confident in
front of people, this depicts the reporters as being literate and fluent with
speech.
3.
What kind of media institution might distribute your
media product and why?
When
researching possible film companies that could distribute our product I found
out that a large scale company such as Warner Brothers would not be appropriate
or fit my type of film. Even though they are successful I feel our opening doesn't reflect or mimic the work of other films they have created, the
technical advancements and equipment used in Warner Brothers etc. films are far
better than the way our film is produced. I think our film would fit nicely
into a smaller film company, preferably from Britain such as film 4, as our
film is not only a British horror but would suit and link with the type of
films they produce and screen. Like the films they produce our film was made
with low budget equipment with simple editing and camera techniques, but still
able to reflect common conventions within the horror genre. Another British
film company that could distribute my film is Hammer film productions, they not
only produce my type of quality film but also specialise in creating horror and
thriller films such as sequels to Frankenstein, the mummy and Dracula, this
would be a better more useful company as they have history, reputation and
experience within the horror genre and would know how to distribute my type of
film well and successfully.
4. Who would
be the audience for your media product?
Judging on the genre of
film and scenes incorporated into our opening I feel our target audience would
be a 15. I have made this decision purely because of the dead body pictured
towards the end of the film. Although no blood is pictured, the inclusion of a
dead body in the opening highly indicates the possibility of blood further into
the film. Also the depiction of murder and violence and death would be inappropriate
for anyone under our chosen age boundary.
5. How did you
attract/address your audience
Throughout our film we
have incorporated many typical horror conventions that we knew would attract
and address the audience. We attracted our audience by firstly incorporating
horror style music to the opening over the credits, the low, slow, deep beats
of the drum are repetitive and surround the audience with suspense and
anticipation. The style of music straight away addresses the audience that the
film is going to be a horror. We also listened to the track and cleverly
figured out where to place the credits and at which part of the track they
should show up, for example we placed the film title ‘The Unknown’ over the
part of the track where the beat suddenly increases in volume, I did this so it
attracted my audience to that point and made them aware of my film title and
which were the most important credits during the opening. One big part of the
opening that I feel really attracts our audience is the inclusion of white
noise. The white noise comes after the camera shuts off, one particular scene
where it works well is after the reporter in the field character says ‘’may
strike again’’ the cut off of the camera and the sudden appearance of the white
noise gives the film a realistic edge, it makes the audience jump and start
asking questions and thinking up scenarios in their head such as why has the
camera cut off? Who screamed? Was it the killer? Including the white noise
throughout the film I feel was a good idea, we included it in the right places
and did not overuse it or drag it out, the time in which we included white noise
changed in every section, we felt some areas needed less and some needed more
and we used the appropriate amount depending on what was happening in the
scene. The continuous use of white noise attracts the audience because it makes
them want to keep watching, it builds anticipation and we are essentially drip
feeding them the information. This is what we as horror movie producers want to
achieve within the audience, a sense of suspense and unknowing of what is going
to happen. Another aspect of our film that would attract our target audience is
the age of the cast, casting young adults would bring in larger quantities of
my target audience and would fit in nicely with my film as it is rated 15, my
target audience which is teenagers I found out from my questionnaire enjoy
horror films and like to be scared, as I have based our film around my
questionnaire, it should if I have used the conventions correctly attract a lot
of people who fall into my age category. We addressed our audience into knowing that
our film was a horror right from the start, firstly our specific use of font
colour helps address the audience. We used the colour red as it is a typical
and common feature for titles and credits in most horrors, it depicts blood,
death, anger and danger all emotions and feelings that are seen in the genre.
Using the colour red was useful for our credits because they are at the start
of the film and quickly address the audience that the film will be a horror so
there are no surprises, misunderstanding or confusion about the genre further
into the feature. The font colour of the credits is also backed up by a dark
black background and the deep drum beat music which I mentioned earlier. All of
these aspects combined create a very stereotypical horror opening and tell the
audience what type of film they are about to watch.
6.
What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
During the production of our film we came across many
technologies that were new to me us and some that we had used before. One big
piece of technology that really helped the quality of our film was the green
screen. (See short clip 2) The green screen allowed us to include any image we wanted into the
background of our shot when we edited later on. This was extremely useful when
filming our news room scene, because we couldn’t film in a proper news room or
have the time to create our own the green screen came in and helped us improve
our scene and create a more realistic and quality outcome. The only real
limitation of the green screen was the fact it had to stretch out correctly, no
folds or creases could be in the fabric or else it would show up in the edit
and distort my image. I came across this problem when we first shot our scene
and had to go and re-film a few days later. I feel this is only a small
limitation as it can be helped and put correctly by the film producers. When we
edited we needed to use the Apple Mac and Adobe Premiere, the Mac’s and this
software was completely new to me, I had only use them briefly when creating my
preliminary task and was unsure about of the capability they held, after guidance
from my peers and teacher I quickly understood each different area of the
software and learnt the basics about creating a good quality edit. I learnt how
to add effects cut clips and include titles all things I was unsure of before.
When editing I did find one limitation with the macs that I couldn’t help. I
was trying to include the opening news title jingle by downloading a clip from
You Tube; it wouldn’t allow downloading from YouTube directly to the mac so I
had to improvise and use my memory stick to transfer the content from my
teacher’s laptop onto the mac, we were able to complete this download because
of a program called keepvid, keepvid allowed us to download the content from
the source and then save into a file in my teachers computer, in the end it
worked out fine and now I know not to try and download again straight onto the
mac. Another piece of technology that is very common in this technological era
but new to me was the blog. Using blogger as our chosen blog site was useful
because it allowed me to post all of my work onto my blog and get quick and
useful feedback from my tutors. It also kept my work safe and in one place
which is always an uncertainty when completing writing work. Blogger overall
was incredibly useful during the researching and producing of my film, it had
no real disadvantages, I found it quite difficult to work at the start and I
was unsure of were to find different things such as editing or writing a post.
As soon as I started using it more often I easily picked up the basics.
7.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
After looking back, analyzing and reviewing my
preliminary task I found out that as a media film producer I have drastically
improved my knowledge and skill in each area of production. At the start of the
year we learnt about the 180 degree rule, where the actors have to stay one
side of the camera to not confuse the audience about positioning of characters.
We not only included this in our preliminary task but also took our knowledge
into the film opening and obeyed the 180 degree rule throughout. Overall my
knowledge about each area of media production has improved since the start of
the year. One specific area that I have improved on is the editing. At the
start I was unaware of the many buttons on the macs and what they did; now I
feel much more confident with my edits and their fluency. For example one scene
in my preliminary task that I felt was poor was the scene where I am walking up
the stairs, you can clearly see where I stop and look at that camera in one
shot and continue in the next, this poor editing was not seen in my new film
and the sharpness and fluency in the opening scene I felt was quite professional.
One part of the film where I merged two shots together is when the cameraman is
running into the ditch, during this scene there are two separate shots, I feel
the shakiness and style of the camera included with the terrain I was filming
helped make the edit look better but my increased knowledge of editing whilst
producing this scene helped the end product have that sharper, better quality
edge. Another area I have improved in is my use and knowledge of camera angles (See short clip 3),
in the preliminary task I only used 2 or 3 different angles however in my film
opening I included a range of different angles that I hadn’t previously known
to help produce a good quality film. I included angles such as forward tracking;
horizontal tracking and high angles, the range of different angles made it more
interesting and also help express conventions of horrors within my film.
Company Logo - GKE Productions
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Avatars
 |
| Greg Avatar - Geoff Johnson |
 |
| Katie Avatar - Jennifer Adams |
 |
| Libby Avatar - Dead Girl |
 |
| Kyle Avatar - Tim Rodgers |
Monday, 22 April 2013
Production Schedule
Scene 1/2- Newsroom Opening
Acting: Greg, Katie
Location: Green screen room, Landau Forte
Date: Tuesday 12th March
Time Frame: 40 seconds, 35 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Libby, Acting- Greg & Katie
Equipment: Green Screen, Camera, Tripod
Props: Costume- Suit dress, desk, chairs, earpiece, props for desk
Scene 3//4- Time Rodgers in field
Acting: Kyle
Location: Landau forte field
Date:Monday 18th March & Tuesday 19th (weather conditions)
Time Frame: 20 seconds, 25 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Greg, Director- Libby
Equipment: Camera, Tripod
Props: Microphone, Ear piece, Costume- Suit
Scene 5/6- Tim Rodgers discovering body and end
Acting: Libby, Kyle
Location: Landau Forte field
Date: Tuesday 19th March
Time Frame: 30 seconds, 20 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Greg, Director- Libby
Equipment: Camera (Handheld)
Props: Costume- Suit dress, Casual for Libby, Microphone
Acting: Greg, Katie
Location: Green screen room, Landau Forte
Date: Tuesday 12th March
Time Frame: 40 seconds, 35 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Libby, Acting- Greg & Katie
Equipment: Green Screen, Camera, Tripod
Props: Costume- Suit dress, desk, chairs, earpiece, props for desk
Scene 3//4- Time Rodgers in field
Acting: Kyle
Location: Landau forte field
Date:Monday 18th March & Tuesday 19th (weather conditions)
Time Frame: 20 seconds, 25 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Greg, Director- Libby
Equipment: Camera, Tripod
Props: Microphone, Ear piece, Costume- Suit
Scene 5/6- Tim Rodgers discovering body and end
Acting: Libby, Kyle
Location: Landau Forte field
Date: Tuesday 19th March
Time Frame: 30 seconds, 20 seconds
Allocation: Camera- Greg, Director- Libby
Equipment: Camera (Handheld)
Props: Costume- Suit dress, Casual for Libby, Microphone
Final Script
(Cut to close up
of Greg’s head and shoulders)
Katie: Good afternoon im Jennifer Adams
(Close-up of Katie’s head and shoulders)
Greg: And im Geoff Johnson and this is eye witness news at 5
(Cut to wide shot of two news anchors)
Greg: Breaking news, another body has been found, discarded
in an isolated field near County Roven estate in the West Midlands.
Katie: Police discovered the body around 3 hours ago and
have now took it to hospital for further investigation.
Greg: This is the 3rd body that has been found in
the area over the past few days and police believe it will not be the last
Greg: We will now go live to Tim Rodgers who is reporting
from the scene of the crime….Tim can you hear me
(Cut to Field scene)
Kyle: I can hear you Geoff
(Cut back to Greg and Katie in studio)
Greg: Okay, have the police found any more ideas on who this
killer is
(Cut back to head and shoulders close up of Kyle, as he
continuous to speak camera zooms out to establishing shot and horizontally
tracks his walk)
Kyle: The body has been taken back to a forensics lab for
further investigation, the forensics team will be looking for clues, but so far
the killer is unknown and may.. strike again
Libby screams. Kyle jumps and looks to right dropping microphone.
Camera starts shaking and cuts off.
Cuts back to studio
Katie: Were sorry for the inconvenience but we seem to have
lost communication with Tim
Greg holds ear piece looking confused, mouthing to people
behind camera
Cuts back to field
Kyle: C’mon c’mon! (Camera Man runs handheld shot, shaky, heavy
breathing)
Cuts back to studio where Katie and Greg are sitting
quietly and bored, unknowing of what’s happening.
Cut back to field where Kyle is running to source of
scream
Cameraman: in there, in there! Points to ditch inside fence,
Cuts back to studio where presenters are sitting bored
Cuts back to field. Kyle drops to knees as cameraman runs
through gate
Cameraman: What? What?!
Kyle points to ditch where Libby is lying ‘dead’ Camera
looks at Libby shakily and then cuts off and white noise starts.
Cuts back to field Camera is on floor with shot of
cameraman’s arm on floor
Kyle picks up camera cleans it with sleeve and suddenly
looks up in horror and drops camera, Camera is then picked up by killer and
starts walking towards Kyle, Camera is at high angle,
Kyle: Please No Please Please, NOOOOO! Camera Cuts to White
Noise
End of Film
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Role Allocation
The main roles were equally distributed around my group of three but we all contributed and gave ideas in each section.
Script Writer- Greg Day
Storyboard editor and creator - Katie Thompson
Director- Whole group, mainly Katie
Editor- Whole group, mainly Elizabeth
Camera - Equal distribution
Acting - All of us, mainly myself
Cast and Character Details
News Reader – Geoff Johnson
Actor – Greg Day
Appearance- male, tall, white skin, dark hair, Grey suit, smart
Character- Well spoken, clear, loud voice, childish, immature when wants to be
Role- The male news reporter who reports about a series of killings in a local area. Tells the audience about what is going on briefly.
Props- News Reader papers, glass of water, earpiece to connect to Tim
News Reader 2- Jennifer Adams
Actress – Katie Thompson
Appearance- Female, Smaller, ginger hair, white skin, makeup, Blazer, smart dress
Character- Well spoken, clear voice, sophisticated, mature
Role- Will play the female news report who is reporting the series of killings happening in a local area. Also explains briefly what is happening.
Props- Glass of water, news reader papers
News Reporter- Tim Rodgers
Actor- Kyle Spencer
Appearance- Male (debatable), dark hair, medium sized, smart dress, grey suit/black suit
Character- Energetic, Loud, well spoken, emotional (select scenes)
Role- Reports from the scene of the crime, gets caught up when he hears a scream and wants to find the source. Is killed by unknown murderer.
Props- Microphone, Earpiece to connect to Geoff
Dead Body – Unknown
Actress- Elizabeth Aubury
Appearance – Blonde, smaller, Casual wear, navy coat, skirt (not much to state as she will be face down dead)
Character- Still, lifeless, dead
Role- The source of the scream heard during the news report. Explains to the audience the killer has struck again in the area.
Props- None
Actor – Greg Day
Appearance- male, tall, white skin, dark hair, Grey suit, smart
Character- Well spoken, clear, loud voice, childish, immature when wants to be
Role- The male news reporter who reports about a series of killings in a local area. Tells the audience about what is going on briefly.
Props- News Reader papers, glass of water, earpiece to connect to Tim
Actress – Katie Thompson
Appearance- Female, Smaller, ginger hair, white skin, makeup, Blazer, smart dress
Character- Well spoken, clear voice, sophisticated, mature
Role- Will play the female news report who is reporting the series of killings happening in a local area. Also explains briefly what is happening.
Props- Glass of water, news reader papers
Actor- Kyle Spencer
Appearance- Male (debatable), dark hair, medium sized, smart dress, grey suit/black suit
Character- Energetic, Loud, well spoken, emotional (select scenes)
Role- Reports from the scene of the crime, gets caught up when he hears a scream and wants to find the source. Is killed by unknown murderer.
Props- Microphone, Earpiece to connect to Geoff
Actress- Elizabeth Aubury
Appearance – Blonde, smaller, Casual wear, navy coat, skirt (not much to state as she will be face down dead)
Character- Still, lifeless, dead
Role- The source of the scream heard during the news report. Explains to the audience the killer has struck again in the area.
Props- None
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