7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

There are many things I have learnt from looking back on my preliminary task. During the filming of the preliminary task, there was not tripod used meaning a lot of the shots were shaky and this resulted in our preliminary task to look unprofessional. Furthermore, in the final film that I made I used a tripod meaning shots were a lot more still. This immediately makes the film look more professional.

I also learnt about the various camera shots and techniques that I could apply to my final film. These included low angle shots to represent power and status as well as tracking shots to track character movement. It was also clear from my preliminary task that keeping the subject in shot and in the centre was a lot more challenging that I thought. As I began to film the final opening, I concentrated very hard on making sure the character was in the centre of the shot all the time. Whilst the character was walking, it was quite hard to keep her in shot all the time so as a result I decided to place the two cameras at various points along her path and then capture her walking past and into the distance from various angles. This proved effective and I got this idea of placing the camera down like this from our preliminary task as I felt that we did not use enough camera shots during the task meaning I had lots of ideas floating around for the final film.

From the preliminary task to the final film, it was clear that I had edited much more and used the software more effectively than I did in the preliminary task. In the preliminary task I only used simple cutting tools just to get rid of the clips we didn’t need. This changed dramatically when I was editing for the final film. This is because as well as cutting clips, I would also have to piece them together more successfully and make sure every shot matched up well and didn’t look jumpy. Of course then I had to use the editing software for lighting and slow motion effects, which is a lot more in depth than anything I did for the preliminary task.

Overall I feel that I have made a sufficient amount of progression throughout the course and in particular, the editing process. I am very pleased with the progress I have made from the preliminary task right up to the final edit of my final film opening.

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

The main form of technology that I have used throughout the course is Final Cut Express on the Apple Mac. As neither my partner nor I had ever had any experience with using an Apple Mac, we both needed more time to get used to it and teach ourselves how to use some of the features.

I also used a Sony HD digital camera as well as the JVC one that the school provided me with whenever necessary. I already had some experience with using video cameras as I did a lot of filming in my GCSE ICT Film enrichment course. This meant that I already knew how to use the school cameras, which helped a lot and saved time. Using two cameras also meant that we could film the same shot from two different angles, which had a very effective impact on our film. Having the Sony camera at home also meant that I could go out and film even if the school had all their cameras fully booked. The HD on the Sony also gave a much better picture than the school one which meant I used this in the scenes where the light wasn’t great or I felt the definition would be important to capture in the particular scene such as the first scene near the river.

As I mentioned earlier, using Final Cut Express was a new experience for me. I had only ever really used Windows Movie Maker, which is a lot more basic than Final Cut. It took me a while to get to grips with the wide variety of features on Final Cut Express but I had a few friends who have used it before meaning they helped me with the basics and then I worked the rest out myself. It was vital for me to get my head around using Final Cut Express effectively as it was the editing that would make our film a success.

 

I was relying on my limited amount of experience with the programme in order to edit the lighting to make it match as we did not film on the same day meaning light differed. Initially I thought this might be a large problem because the lighting was quite dramatically different from the start to finish of the filming. It started off very sunny and the sky was clear and then suddenly at about 2pm when we were filming our last few scenes, it started to overcast and get dark. I used the colour corrector on Final Cut to match all the lighting well and effectively. This made a huge difference and other than the sky being blue in the last scene, no one would notice the lighting issue. Luckily the brightest scenes were the crowd scenes but fortunately we were planning on making them black and white anyway to symbolise foreshadowing.

 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Due to the little experience I had in the production of films, I knew that attracting and addressing the audience would be a difficult task. I thought that if I created the film so that the typical thriller conventions are challenged to create something different for the audience. I wanted to create something unusual and use ideas and scenarios that would make the audience question what is going on.

I made sure that the film was going to draw in the audience and then make then question what was going on. What they would see would be untypical of the other films similar to mine that they had seen. I accomplished this mainly through shooting the film in daylight. The majority of thriller films will be shot at night when it is dark or at dusk when it is getting dark to make the scene more scary and mysterious. A typical thriller film will have some sort of crime or murder than happens during the night and I wanted to challenge this typical convention and attract my audience in a different way.

I did not include any real clues as to what the girl was aiming to do and where she was walking. I made sure she was clutching a bag under her arm and then through the editing I included a ticking clock in the that pops up every now and again which will obviously trigger some curiosity in the audiences’ mind. The audience will be questioning what they are seeing in the scenes leading up to the last scene. All we see is the girl walking and she shows no emotion and this builds tension. Building tension throughout the film opening was the biggest task I had as it was very difficult to do so as the filming was done in the day and there was nothing that made the girl seem that threatening other than the bag. As a result I had to work very cleverly with the editing and make sure that each scene built more and more tension as it went on. I feel that this worked well and from listening to my friend’s feedback after watching the film, they all said that there was a lot of tension throughout. This is obviously great feedback as it means that I have been successful in attracting and addressing the audience.

4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

I thought about the age certificate I would label my film opening with in the very early stages of brainstorming my ideas. I knew that if I labelled it roughly in the early stages then I could create it to suit this age group and therefore the audience I targeted. I decided to rate my film opening a 15 as I feel that there is no violence or gore meaning it is not an 18 certificate but the concept and ideas behind the storyline are quite hard-hitting which is why I gave the opening a rating of 15 as I do not feel that anyone younger should be subject to this terrorist situation and stream of ideas. This certificate would only really apply if the film was produced and made into a full-length film by a production company. I feel that my film will appeal to both male and females from the ages of 15-30 as it includes lots of mature ideas as well as some ideas that the younger end of my target audience would relate to such as the main actress. http://big-tymer.blogspot.com/2010/11/target-audience.html

In my blog during the early period of the course, I didn’t decide on a particular age group for my target audience but I did decide on the type of target audience. I decided that this film would appeal to anyone who enjoys watching thriller films as my film idea covered a wide range of realistic scenarios so I felt it would appeal to any age. After finishing the film, I feel it is easier to put an age certificate on the film as I have had more time to think about how the film will develop into a full length film.

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

There are many ways in which I could get my film distributed. The main method would be through a film production company such as Met or Hammer production companies. This may result in the company creating the rest of the film based on the opening and my ideas. It would also mean that they could pay for the production and then distribution of the film to my targeted audience. This is one option and I think it would benefit my film greatly as it would be a great form of advertising and getting my film viewed by my audience.

I feel that another successful distribution method for my film would be through YouTube or Vimeo. These two sites are video-sharing-sites meaning anyone with an account can upload videos onto the site and receive views and ratings etc. This would be a great opportunity for my film opening to be viewed. Both sites are very popular and there are many ways in which I could make sure people saw my film opening. A simple method would be to include lots of tags to the video so it is more likely to be found on the sites. There are such a wide variety of people who use these sites to watch online videos meaning I have a high chance of getting lots of views on my film opening.

2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are not very many ways in which my film represents any particular social groups and I feel that it challenges them rather than represents them.

The first way in which I feel that my film challenges and represents particular social groups is through the main actress. She is a young girl aged 16 and not stereotypical of a terrorist or someone who would wish to cause havoc by planting a bomb in a busy market square. She comes across as a possible student and an average teenage girl but obviously there is more to her than the audience expects. I knew this would be the case and while coming up with film ideas in the early stages of the course, I wanted to use an actress who had a scary appearance but did not look too typical of someone who would be planting a bomb or more specifically, involved in crime. Nowadays, teenagers are frowned upon and stereotypically portrayed as trouble and statistically youth crime rates are increasing. Based on this, I wanted to challenge the stereotype in one way but also follow it in another. I knew that using a teenager would confuse the audience, as they would be questioning the actions of this teenager and leave them wondering why she is involved in such an awful crime. However, I knew that following the stereotype of teenagers being involved in crime would engage the audience more as they are put at ease as it is something they are familiar with which means they are more likely to follow the storyline.   

I think using a teenage girl as the bomb carrier and criminal is more effective as it is less expected and the audience will be held under tension throughout the film, as they would not be expecting the girl to have a bomb and to have the guts to drop the bomb. It is completely untypical to see a girl carrying a bomb; therefore this storyline creates tension and draws the audience in well.

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

My 2 minute film opening develops and also challenges the typical conventions of the genre I chose to create my film around.

I decided to base my film around the genre of Thriller. However there are some elements of the film that may tie into an action film genre. The typical conventions of a thriller film is to have some sort of fast paced chase scene and a murder or death along with a victim of some sort and in most cases, a villain or criminal/murderer. My film follows these conventions fairly closely as the whole opening is a chase scene because the girl is running away from the police and taking scenic routes to get to where she wishes to drop the bomb, therefore avoiding crowded areas where police will be. The audience can assume the girl is being followed due to the police helicopter scene at the beginning of the opening whereby the police pilot describes the girl and tries to track her from the sky. This sort of chase is typical of a thriller film as it builds tension from the audiences’ point of view and makes them question the actions of the girl. On the other hand, my film does not follow the typical conventions of a thriller film, as it does not include a murder or death or a specific victim. This resulted in me questioning the genre of the film and this is when I began to link it with other genres. I felt that it might fit with an action genre as it involves a chase and a typical action film will involve a chase of some sort with vehicles or people and police. From this it is clear that my film could tie in with the action genre as police are involved in the first scene and they are chasing the girl who is on the ground from the helicopter. This is something we would expect to see in an action film rather than a thriller but the rest of the film follows a thriller more than an action film as it is more gripping and builds tension through the girls expressionless face and body language along with the clutching of the bag she has.

A typical thriller would use darker lighting and less bright colours than an action film and as my film focuses on both light and dark colours throughout, it doesn’t closely fit with neither an action nor a thriller film. The first scene of my film is in black and white which is typical of a thriller film but then towards the end of the opening, the lighting is lighter and the sun is up and shining which is not typical of a thriller as such and more suited to an action film. Action films are more typically seen to have more bright lighting and flashes, which tie in with explosions etc.  My film uses bright colours towards the end when the girl is about to drop the bomb and when I am filming the market square along with the crowds. The use of brighter footage towards the end is to represent the happy atmosphere that the market maintains and then I used slow motion when the girl is seen in shot to reinforce that she is going to cause disruption and havoc causing this happy atmosphere to change.

As you can see, I have used typical conventions from both a thriller film and an action film which illustrates how my film does challenge both genres of film in order to make my film more gripping and successful in drawing in my audience.