Evaluation: Question 7

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

Throughout the process of planning, researching, shooting and editing my thriller film, I have progressed a lot as a filmmaker, and there are many lessons I have learned, through trial-and-error, and from other people.
Regarding teamwork, I have learned that if I want something done I should do it myself; I found the experience frustrating, as I much prefer being in full control of a project. My strengths lie in camerawork and editing, so being in front of the camera, as opposed to behind it was somewhat exasperating.
Since the group for the preliminary was smaller, it was easier to work in, because the information required didn’t need to be transferred between so many people. With 4 people, there was too much relying upon each other to do the work.
When it came to camera skills, and use of the tripod, I didn't learn much that was new - considering I was in front of the camera - although I still directed the camera person a lot. I did learn, however, that over-relying on the tripod makes for a very boring film - stagnant shots are somewhat monotonous, whereas shots which pan, or shake slightly add a more personal touch to the film; as if the viewer is there.
In our film, we didn’t much regard the 180 degree rule, considering the production was meant to seem somewhat confusing, and if the viewer got disorientated, that was a good thing. An example of breaking the 180 degree rule would be; the shining, in which Stanley Kubrick shoots wide shots from both directions of a conversation, a 180-degree flip, crossing the line. This is something I learned during the planning of the final film, and I would not have considered this during the preliminary task.
Match on action was tricky to achieve fluidly in this piece, considering it also had to be in time with the music, and a specific length film. An example in my film would be; the door opening and closing, from 9 - 16 seconds. I learned that this technique is an absolute essential to filmmaking, because if there is any discontinuity between shots, the film will look choppy, and absolutely amateur, as opposed to smooth and professional.
A cliffhanger is an absolutely quintessential concept to the thriller genre, and is among the most important aspects of a good opening. The idea is that, if a viewer is intrigued as to what may happen next, then they will continue to watch the film. The preliminary task did not incorporate this, and although a dramatic piece, it fell a little flat, because there wasn’t any curiosity about the next part of the film.
Our cliffhanger, was the eye of the (presumed) antagonist - TM - opening at the end of the section.
This consisted of just 1 camera angle, and therefore proves that just a simplistic idea can be just as effective as a highly complex plot, with magnificently intricate camerawork and $1,000,000,000 actors/actresses.
From the start, we knew that we wanted juxtaposing sounds for our soundtrack - one extremely light, and one extremely heavy. Through searching around on YouTube, I came across many of these. I made a couple of drafts, and this enabled me to learn how soundtracks may effect the final piece. The ones I chose were what I believed to be the one which added the most suspense to the film.
My tutor provided feedback throughout the entire process; offering opinions on everything, both developing me as a progressive filmmaker, and helping me to achieve the highest mark possible. Her input was highly valuable, as she was able to aid in making certain decisions which could make or break my film.

Evaluation: Question 6

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

To create our film, I used specific technologies to enhance both the process, and the overall end product.
During the coursework process, I used multiple formats for displaying information - text documents, Prezi presentations, vlogs (video blogs), and powerpoint.
Text documents were used in majority for the simple fact, that it is easier to read the raw information in a simple format, as opposed to having to click about and running the risk of missing information.
The process behind them is also very simple - one just has to write, or copy and paste into the text box provided, when one creates a new document in Blogger, and press ‘Publish’.
Prezis were regularly used as well. This is because they are aesthetically pleasing, and information in a visually interesting display, is generally easier to remember.
The process behind this, is as follows; create, save and exit the Prezi. On the page of the Prezi, press ‘Embed’, and then ‘Copy code to clipboard’.
Next, on a new Blogger document, press ‘HTML’, and paste the code provided there. Press publish and after adding any necessary text around the embedded Prezi, and all is done.
Vlogs worked well, as information is often easier to memorise information when someone is reading it to you. Also, considering we are making a film, it seemed fitting to make extra informational films - allowing for practise with the editing software. They were also fun to make, and I found that the incentive of making and editing a film, made me write the information faster, and get the work done quickly and enjoyably.
First, film oneself reading the information, next open in your video editing software of choice; I use iMovie.
Cut any lengthy pauses to create jump cuts - a technique often seen in this genre of film making. Then add titles, clips of film etc.
When finished editing, export film. Upload the exported film to YouTube. Then, on the video’s YouTube page, press ‘Share’, followed by ‘Embed’, and copy the code to clipboard.
After that, in a new Blogger document, press ‘HTML’, then paste the embed code there, and after and adding any text around the embedded video, ‘Publish’.
The Powerpoint was very tricky for me to use, since Macintosh systems don’t come with the programme - hence why I only used this format once.
I had to use Microsoft’s very slow, clumpy online version, which simply takes forever to make anything on. The editing tools are limited, and it’s at first difficult to actually get the final powerpoint onto the blog.
Once I worked out how, it was a simple case of finding the embed link, and pasting it into the ‘HTML’ section of a new document on Blogger.
I decided to just stick with Prezis, considering that they are effectively a more sophisticated version of powerpoint presentations.
There is also a storyboard on the blog. Firstly this was drawn up on A3 paper. Then scanned into a computer and the final .JPG image uploaded to the blog.
To upload an image to a Blogger document, press the ‘Insert Image’ icon to the top middle/right of the document, followed by ‘Choose files’, and select the images you require. Once they have finished loading, highlight the image necessary, and press ‘Add selected’.
The internet played a very quintessential role in the research for my coursework; for example I used websites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and IMDB regularly for a magnitude of reasons.
YouTube, being a vast resource with a massively eclectic mix of videos, was my main, and potentially only viewing platform for viewing and analysing clips from other media texts. It has the footage itself from films, but there are also informational videos about said clips - often providing me with insights into the makings of the film, or an alternate readings of hidden meanings.
The website also helped me to find the music for my film; searching for ‘Royalty Free Piano Music’, and then ‘Royalty Free Horror Music’, I was able to find two pieces of music - the first being ‘Gymnopedie No. 3’ by Erik Satie, and next ‘The Prestige’ by YouTube user ‘JosephPage’.
By searching ‘Royalty Free Deathcore’, and searching around a bit, the song ‘It’s Just A Metaphor’ by For The Freedom came up, and provided a heavy soundtrack to the end of my film. A film which uses a similar idea for the music, would be
Wikipedia is also a massive knowledge base, and provides incredibly in-depth information regarding almost anything imaginable. This meant that I could gain an insight into the characters in the films, and also could find out more about the process behind development, production, distribution and the reception of said films.
IMDB is a film database, which provides review, ratings, actor information, awards etc.
These reviews gave me an idea as to how film critics, casual watchers and everyone in between felt about the films, and quotes from them all.
The camera used was a ‘’. Due to it being a digital camera, it allowed us to review footage on the camera itself, transfer as multiple film formats to a computer, and it’s touchscreen, made navigation of files fairly easy.
The files are saved onto an SD card, which is slotted into a panel in the side of the camera. Once the footage is recorded, one can take the SD card out. My laptop (a MacBook Pro) has an SD card slot in the side, so therefore I could transfer the footage to iMovie very easily.
I used specific editing techniques and effects to enhance the quality and creativity of my film.
Transitions used were; Fade to black, Cross Dissolve and Fade to white.
The Fade to blacks - least frequently used - marked the end of one of the flashbacks, acting as a satisfying conclusion to the action, and opening another shot.
The cross dissolves were the most frequently used, and were implemented so regularly because they connote a sense of dreaminess.
The fade to whites were put at the beginning of the flashbacks. They also connote dreaminess, and memories of one’s past.
Using transitions, also prevented the overuse of jump cuts, which would’ve made the production seem choppy and wouldn’t have flowed so well.
The (royalty free) music was downloaded from YouTube, using the website ‘YouTube2mp3’, which downloads YouTube videos, and converts them to an .mp3 format - thus sending the file to iTunes.
iMovie connects to iTunes, and the song or sound is taken directly from there.
I also had to colour correct some of the footage, by changing the white balance, therefore making the footage it’s true colour, as opposed to slightly tinted blue. The flashbacks were in black and white, thus showing that they occurred in the past.
Throughout the film, I only used 1 font - Avenir, and it’s variants (Light, Medium and Black). This is because  it is very simplistic, but also a clean, modern looking font.

Evaluation: Question 5 Powerpoint

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation: Question 4

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience which we are most looking to appeal to, would be young adults, potentially those interested in social equality issues. This is because the characters also are young, and the denial of gender roles, and sexist thriller archetypes may be of interest to that particular demographic.
Characters which people can relate to are most appealing, and our character is hopefully very relatable, and acts as a voice for the unspoken, bringing further awareness of domestic violence (even if the retaliation is a little unrealistic, and serves only as). Demographics suggest that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Although it’s more common for women, 1 in 6 men experience domestic violence, so the film hopefully will resonate with them also.
Both of the characters in the film are White-British, so unfortunately there’s nothing much to say about ethnicity.
Sexuality isn’t much of an issue in our film, as it mainly centres around violence, but considering how women are much more likely than men to experience sexual violence in their lifetimes, the film may appeal to them.
The costume and part of the soundtrack of the film are both based on goth/punk/hardcore/metal subcultures - since punk is such an old subculture, it may bring in a larger range of viewers - old punks, and new punks alike. Metalcore and related genres are something which emerged in the 1990s, so may also appeal to the younger audiences.
The other piece of music is piano based. Piano is a timeless instrument, with no particular age group which it could appeal to - often held as one’s starting instrument, it could help draw attention of viewers from ages 0 to 200.
The film with the largest amount of similarities to ours would be ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ - it is a rape revenge thriller, the protagonist is a goth and female.

Evaluation: Question 2 Powerpoint

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation: Question 1 Prezi

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



Evaluation Question 2 | 2nd Draft

Question 2

Representation of gender

The aim with our characters was to challenge the stereotypes of many thriller archetypes, by making gender irrelevant to the plot. We therefore chose to use a contemporary portrayal of women.

In our society at present, women are stereotyped as the recessive gender; weaker than men in most respects — Maria is represented as the opposite. She is headstrong, balanced and not afraid to behave as she pleases, not under the rule of any other. She is the lead character, who is not ‘subdued by a marriage’, and isn’t punished for resisting societal restrictions.

The protagonist is not a hyper feminine, sexualised character, which many films, often even contemporary ones, still regularly perpetuate as the norm. She has a mission, and that, rather than her anatomy, is what defines the character.

An example of the misogyny which we are trying to avoid in our piece, would be Irene Adler, from BBC Sherlock. She originally was written — by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — as the first person to outwit Sherlock Holmes — the fact that she is female making it all the more defiant of stereotypes of feminine weakness.

But Stephen Moffat did not stay true to the plot line with the way he wrote the character. Moffat makes the character a dominatrix - while this is obvious hyper-sexualisation, it would be misogynistic in itself to assume that her job defines her character - much like the writer has done.

The character falls in love with Sherlock, and has to flee to another country. As she is on the brink of being beheaded, Sherlock appears out of nowhere and saves her.

Overall, the character is defined by her work in the sex industry, and through a non-mutual love for a man. The former being very taboo in our culture, and the latter stripping her of any power she may have initially held.

In our production, we stray away from the dominant male, and passive female stereotypes.

Due to Maria’s domination of TM, he is emasculated, thus denying the generic convention of tough male protagonists, and their weak, female lovers. Films which perpetuate these traditions, would include ‘Once Upon A Time In America’; in which Eve is Noodle’s mistress, and Psycho; in which Marion Crane is willing to steal from her employer in a desperate attempt to buy her lover - she pays the ultimate price for her deviance.

Maria’s quest for revenge clearly reflects other modern thrillers, which also deny gender stereotypes - examples include; The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - in which the protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, is a rape survivor, and is on a quest to get revenge on the perpetrator, by tattooing on his chest ‘I AM A SADISTIC PIG, A PERVERT, AND A RAPIST’. 

Maria displays a lack of empathy; clearly shown when she nonchalantly puts in her headphones at the end. This may make audience members uncomfortable, probably assuming that she is a sociopath — but, would the audience be as uncomfortable if it were a man carrying out the same actions? James Bond shows no remorse at all for the large amount of people he kills in the films, but regardless, the franchise is still a massive hit.

There is no specific representation of youth, other than that both of the characters of our piece are obviously young adults.

The world which they inhabit does not seem to connect to reality, and the violent content of the production, acts as a microcosm for the violence among some groups of youth in Britain. Much like how the Essex Marshes (where Jason Locke of Essex Boys, dumps his hapless victim after throwing acid in his face), are a symbolic representation of the isolation of his career path.

White British is the ethnic group which most dominates our TV and film screens in the UK. Our film. For example, Midsomer Murders, in the past, has had controversy surrounding the lack of ethnic minorities shown, due to the fact that everyone in the show is white.

Unfortunately, our film also reflects that, simply because we did not have the actors available for any sort of ethnic diversity.