I showed my final media product to some of my friends who were of the target audience for the film (15-34) and gained some feedback which was mainly positive, this included:
"I like the back and forth dialogue shots at the start"
"I liked the part where the sound of the bag being dropped cuts to the next scene"
"The framing where they were at the bottom of the path wasn't very good because the top of his (Chris') head was cut off"
"I think that most of the film is framed very well with maybe one or two exceptions"
"It's good when Chris is calling Dan and it cuts to black at the end"
"The filming could have been better where the camera jumps near the end of the film"
Most of this feedback was postive but there were a couple of negative areas which were unfortunately to do with the filming itself which couldn't be re-done due to the cast becoming unavailable and my own time restrictions.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Final Product
This is my final copy of my product.
Below is what was going to be my final copy but I made a few edits to the film in the end.
Semiotic Analysis
The film opens with a long shot of 2 people walking down a path next to a road, the sun is shining and birds can be heard singing in the background signifying that it is a nice day possibly either in spring or summer. It then cuts to a close up of a males face (Dan), as he walks the camera follows him shakily as if from the perspective of the person who he is talking to. It then cuts to another male (Chris) walking next to Dan on the path, the shot type is effectively mirrored from the first person. It then cuts back to the Dan, this is an example of a shot-reaction shot. It then cuts back to Chris and then to a shot similar to the first opening shot of the path, the two males stop walking here and exchange dialogue again before Chris walks off screen with Dan following behind, signifying that Dan is a bit uneasy about going upo the next path. It then cuts to a long shot of Chris and Dan walking up the path, Chris starts to look into the woods to the side, they walk towards the camera and exchange dialogue, they walk past the camera (one on each side) and it cuts to the next shot, a long shot showing the path and part of the woods, both characters stop walking here and start talking, it then cuts to a shot from behind a tree that peers round towards the path and then cuts back to the shot before with more dialogue being exchanged before Chris starts to walk off into the woods, Dan is left with the bags and as he drops his bag it cuts to the next shot (an example of a sound bridge), it now cuts to a long shot of Chris in the woods and the camera pans across tracking him as he walks through the woods. It then cuts back to a long shot of the path showing Dan sat down with the bags looking around before cutting back to Chris in the woods. Chris then walks off the shot and it cuts back to the path with the camera following Chris as he walks to the path calling for Dan, as he calls for the last time it fades to black and the titles start rolling and music playing.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product uses various forms and conventions, these include the names of the characters - Dan Loomis and Chris Voorhees, Loomis is a name that has occurred various times in horror film history in classic films such as Halloween and Psycho, Voorhees is the surname of the central antagonist in the Friday the 13th film series.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product depicts two C2 social group characters from the North of England. This will appeal mostly to the C1C1DE range but not excluding A and B although it is unlikely that they will watch the film. The two characters are C2-class public school pupils who are not wearing uniform (signifying that they are in the 6th form/post 16 group (16-18 years))
What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
Although most films that depict the North of England are limited with their box office success there have been some success stories such as This is England and Billy Elliot but it is most likely that my product would be distributed by a smaller company or perhaps even an indie as these do not strictly apply to a mainstream audience, such companies include Warp Films, Working Title and Film4 but I would like my product to tap into the mainstream, UK-wide (perhaps even global) audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience (as described earlier in the blog) would be the 15-34 age range, this is due to the face that it is a horror film and so is unsuitable for younger audiences and not of interest to much of the older audience and also due to the face that the two characters shown in the intro are teenagers which would heighten the appeal to this age range.
How did you attract your audience?
I attracted my primary audience by using two teenage, Caucasian male characters, this would appeal to a wide range of audiences and not just teenage males.
Later scenes in the film could include non-Caucasian characters and also females to broaden the appeal even further.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Since the start of the process I have learnt a lot about how to edit films (my previous experience was limited because I was away on a geography field trip for the editing process of the preliminary task but I think I learnt enough to make a good standard of product. I have also learned various camera techniques such as how to adjust the white balance on the camcorders and that using a tripod is a very good method of filming. Although I didn't use my own sound in the final product I did try out Garageband (another piece of software for the Mac) and learned things from it that I didn't know before.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Firstly, I have learned that, although a large group was harder to work in because of the conflicting opinions on what to do, working individually increases the workload by a lot and because of this I feel that I was unable to produce the product to the standard that I could have made it in a pair.
During my task I encountered a number of problems which I believe affected the quality of my final product, these included not being able to film as early as I wanted to due to the unavailability of cast members, this led to me reducing the number of characters from 3 to 2 and even then one of my cast members couldn't make it and as I was low on time I decided to take the role myself, this limited the quality of the actual filming as I was relying heavily on a tripod which led to some scenes being of lower quality than they could have been although I am still impressed with what I managed to do for my final product.
I also missed out on some school work time when I was selected to take part in an RAF work experience course
My media product uses various forms and conventions, these include the names of the characters - Dan Loomis and Chris Voorhees, Loomis is a name that has occurred various times in horror film history in classic films such as Halloween and Psycho, Voorhees is the surname of the central antagonist in the Friday the 13th film series.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product depicts two C2 social group characters from the North of England. This will appeal mostly to the C1C1DE range but not excluding A and B although it is unlikely that they will watch the film. The two characters are C2-class public school pupils who are not wearing uniform (signifying that they are in the 6th form/post 16 group (16-18 years))
What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
Although most films that depict the North of England are limited with their box office success there have been some success stories such as This is England and Billy Elliot but it is most likely that my product would be distributed by a smaller company or perhaps even an indie as these do not strictly apply to a mainstream audience, such companies include Warp Films, Working Title and Film4 but I would like my product to tap into the mainstream, UK-wide (perhaps even global) audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience (as described earlier in the blog) would be the 15-34 age range, this is due to the face that it is a horror film and so is unsuitable for younger audiences and not of interest to much of the older audience and also due to the face that the two characters shown in the intro are teenagers which would heighten the appeal to this age range.
How did you attract your audience?
I attracted my primary audience by using two teenage, Caucasian male characters, this would appeal to a wide range of audiences and not just teenage males.
Later scenes in the film could include non-Caucasian characters and also females to broaden the appeal even further.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Since the start of the process I have learnt a lot about how to edit films (my previous experience was limited because I was away on a geography field trip for the editing process of the preliminary task but I think I learnt enough to make a good standard of product. I have also learned various camera techniques such as how to adjust the white balance on the camcorders and that using a tripod is a very good method of filming. Although I didn't use my own sound in the final product I did try out Garageband (another piece of software for the Mac) and learned things from it that I didn't know before.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Firstly, I have learned that, although a large group was harder to work in because of the conflicting opinions on what to do, working individually increases the workload by a lot and because of this I feel that I was unable to produce the product to the standard that I could have made it in a pair.
During my task I encountered a number of problems which I believe affected the quality of my final product, these included not being able to film as early as I wanted to due to the unavailability of cast members, this led to me reducing the number of characters from 3 to 2 and even then one of my cast members couldn't make it and as I was low on time I decided to take the role myself, this limited the quality of the actual filming as I was relying heavily on a tripod which led to some scenes being of lower quality than they could have been although I am still impressed with what I managed to do for my final product.
I also missed out on some school work time when I was selected to take part in an RAF work experience course
Sound
For sound I used the actual audio from filming for most of the intro but there is one section (just before Chris goes into the woods) where the audio was too quiet, I had a number of options here such as overdubbing the audio but instead I decided to shoot another shot from behind a tree which used the faint dialogue to it's advantage and also builds to the overall horror effect.
During filming I encountered some audio interference which I decided to leave in as I think it again added to the overall effect of tension in the film.
During filming I encountered some audio interference which I decided to leave in as I think it again added to the overall effect of tension in the film.
If I were to re-do this in the future I would probably use a better microphone (possibly even a boom mic)
I, at one point, was going to record an original sound track for the film but was unable to do so in the time that I had so I decided to use a default music track at the end of the intro whilst the titles are showing that I got from the defalt iMovie sound effects. I did record the synth chord when Chris was going into the woods though using the program GarageBand.
I, at one point, was going to record an original sound track for the film but was unable to do so in the time that I had so I decided to use a default music track at the end of the intro whilst the titles are showing that I got from the defalt iMovie sound effects. I did record the synth chord when Chris was going into the woods though using the program GarageBand.
Target Audience and BBFC
Age: The target age range for my media product is the 15-34 age range. The minimum age reflecting the BBFC classification that I intended my film to be rated, this is due to:
- Infrequent uses of strong language (although none appears in the into sequence it is intended that there will be some later in the film that is appropriate to the theme).
- Violence (fairly strong but it wouldn't dwell on the injury or infliction of pain) - Again, although none is shown in the intro sequence, (although one reading could be that it is implied) it is intended that it would feature later on in the film.
- Horror - The film is in the horror/thriller genre and strong threats/menaces would, again be used later on in the film.
- Imitable techniques - Although some violence will be used later in the film it will not dwell on the imitable detail or prominently feature easily accessible weapons.
The film would contain no nudity, sexual activity or drug use.
Also, as the two characters are around 16/17 it would have a greater appeal to the younger end of the target age spectrum.
Ethnicity: The two male lead characters in the opening sequence are caucasian, this is due to the fact that it reflects the setting (middle class British town) although it isn't made specifically for a caucasian audience and will have appeal to a multi-ethnic audience. There could also be scope to add some non-caucasian characters.
Gender: Horror is seen as a male-dominated genre but this doesn't rule out females in lead roles as seen in films such as the Halloween series or female audiences. My film opening has no female characters in it but they would feature later on in the film.
Socio-Economic Groupings: My film features two C2 (lower-middle class) characters and so should automatically have appeal to that group. Overall it is designed to appeal, as most horror movies are, to a C1C2DE group range, this of course doesn't rule out the fact that the AB range could watch it but it is not specifically designed for them.
Nationality/Region: Both characters in the film are from the North of England, although their accents aren't "broad" like the sterotype of the North and so could appeal to more of an audience as films focusing on the North tend not to get very far (although there have been exceptions such as The Full Monty and Billy Elliot)
- Infrequent uses of strong language (although none appears in the into sequence it is intended that there will be some later in the film that is appropriate to the theme).
- Violence (fairly strong but it wouldn't dwell on the injury or infliction of pain) - Again, although none is shown in the intro sequence, (although one reading could be that it is implied) it is intended that it would feature later on in the film.
- Horror - The film is in the horror/thriller genre and strong threats/menaces would, again be used later on in the film.
- Imitable techniques - Although some violence will be used later in the film it will not dwell on the imitable detail or prominently feature easily accessible weapons.
The film would contain no nudity, sexual activity or drug use.
Also, as the two characters are around 16/17 it would have a greater appeal to the younger end of the target age spectrum.
Ethnicity: The two male lead characters in the opening sequence are caucasian, this is due to the fact that it reflects the setting (middle class British town) although it isn't made specifically for a caucasian audience and will have appeal to a multi-ethnic audience. There could also be scope to add some non-caucasian characters.
Gender: Horror is seen as a male-dominated genre but this doesn't rule out females in lead roles as seen in films such as the Halloween series or female audiences. My film opening has no female characters in it but they would feature later on in the film.
Socio-Economic Groupings: My film features two C2 (lower-middle class) characters and so should automatically have appeal to that group. Overall it is designed to appeal, as most horror movies are, to a C1C2DE group range, this of course doesn't rule out the fact that the AB range could watch it but it is not specifically designed for them.
Nationality/Region: Both characters in the film are from the North of England, although their accents aren't "broad" like the sterotype of the North and so could appeal to more of an audience as films focusing on the North tend not to get very far (although there have been exceptions such as The Full Monty and Billy Elliot)
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