Final Film

My final opening sequence and my production company logo

Preliminary

AS Evaluation 1

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

My media product develops as well as challenges conventions of an actual media product. To begin with my title of my opening film does not go against conventions of a typical thriller film, with the title "Whereabouts" it highlights clearly the basic storyline and plot of the film. Similar to films such as 'Taken' and 'Gone Baby Gone'. 


I tried to convey conventions of a thriller film through the shots I used at 2, 7 ,8. In these shots I showed a range of different angles, for example in shot 2 it is a close up of the mirror so the action can only be viewed through the mirror. This I feel has a creepy feel to it, I was able to get this after practising filming 'The Book of Eli' where a similar shot was used. Another shot, number 7 represents a thriller as it is a closeup but also an over the shoulder shot. I wanted to use this to show that the young girl was being stalked but to see you reaction on her face after she realised this, I thought this would be effective as it should make the viewers feel more involved in the action. This is similar to a normal convention of a thriller film, as they often use closeups of the victims face so it gets the audience more into the film. For example in the film 'The Woman in Black' shows a similar technique to what I used in my film.

For the costumes in my film I wanted to keep them as realist as possible, not over the top but what a normal 12 year old would wear. You can see the costume of the young girl in clip 3, 5 and 7, which shows by just watching my opening sequence that she is a normal young girl, which hopefully my target audience would have realised. However for the stalker I wanted him to wear something more heavy and dark you can see in clips, 1 and 8 where he is wearing a big black jacket and black hat even though it is sunny, I wanted it to seem like something wasn't right. These costumes fit the conventions of a normal thriller movie as they would have also had similar costumes.

I decided that I wanted the font of my titles to be bold, and not grungy because I didn't want my target audience to get confused whether or not it was a horror or a thriller. I wanted the font to be small but still easy to read, you can see this in clips 5 and 6. And because it had typical conventions of a thriller, I went by using a strong font. In addition, I believe that it shows the audience a clear difference between the camera shots and the titles themselves. 


My opening challenges the conventions of a crime thriller genre film as it leaves the audience with many different views on how the film ends and the relationships between the characters we see during the film opening. We can see that the girl is being stalked, however the last thing that the audience see is the young girl being taken by the stalker. It is not official whether she is killed or not, which is up to the audience to  decide after watching my opening sequence.


The characters are introduced separately apart from when they meet on the long road on the way to the corner store, challenging the convention of a real film opening. We are introduced to the girl in shot 3 where she portrays a naive and childlike sense, whereas the murderer is introduced through a medium shot of him going into a dingy room. My opening consists mainly of shots of the main characters in my film, the victim and stalker. I did this to show the audience their relevance in the film, which makes it a clear convention of most film openings.

AS Evaluation 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my film I based my character on the young girl from the film 'Trapped'. Our characters are similar because of the way they both get kidnapped, although it is not under the same pretences, I thought that I would add my own version, instead of coping. I havent based everything off the 'Trapped' character, 

Similarities:

- They look similar 

- Both get kidnapped

- Shows the venerability of young girls

- Fast moving shots when being taken

Differences:
- Different ages (trapped character '5', my character '12')
- Different reasons behind kidnapping

- The way that the characters were taked down, to be taken

Both movies included stalkers, although my stalking scene was shown at the beginning so that the rest of the film would be about searching for the daughter. The film 'Trapped' has the kidnapping scene at the beginning but not as the opening to show that she is being held hostage. However the plots are roughly the same.

AS Evaluation 3

Script:

The job of a production company is to be responsible for the physical production and offer material into the field of the performing arts; new media art, film, television, radio, and video.

Production companies run from a small to a large scale , for example a independent small production company would be like Film4 and a large main stream one would be Universal Studios. The most successful and famous Production Companies are; DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox, Summit Entertainment, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures. Because I have made my film into a thriller a production company such as, paramount pictures would have been an appropriate production company for my film.  Paramount has produced films such as Shutter Island, which is similar to mine as it is also a thriller.

Metro- Goldwyn- Mayer (MGM) is an American Media Company based in California. They are primarily involved in production of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 and has helped produce and distribute a total of 253 films, which include such films as, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

A film distributor is a company responsible for releasing films to the public either through the cinema or releasing for home viewing through DVD, Video-On-Demand, and Download. With this a distributor is responsible for the gross ticket sales. They are also in charge of film advertising materials; their aim is to attract the largest possible audience.

With my film funds would be very basic and minimalists because of this I would want to release it to a select amount of cinemas to see how well it is received. Using a distributor would be increasingly helpful for the release of a low budget film like mine. Coming from an unknown director, the film would need large advertising to make it a success. Having a film distributor would also help to attract larger audience.

If the film was not received well in the cinema, I would then release the film for home viewing though the Internet and downloads and on DVD. To do this the cost would be high and the funding would have had to be self-funded. There are three main methods of financing the production of films. Which I could possibly use and repay them when from the money the film produces.

1.     Government Grants

2.     Private Equity and Hedge Funds

3.     Debt Finance

I created my own Production logo:

AS Evaluation 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Name - James

Age - 18

What film genre do you like to watch?
I like to watch horrors as there is always something different from one to another and I would never get bored with watching them


Where would you look if you were looking for trailers of new films coming out?
I would look on You Tube as there are endless amounts of movies whether they are indie films or mainstream films


What type of music do you like to listen to?
I like to listen to all genres of music but I prefer indie rock


Would you watch my film?
I would defiantly it looks like something that I would find interesting


If so why and if not why?
I would watch it because it looks scary and there is a good story line, I cannot stand films that are boring and yours doesn't look like it will be.


Do you have any hobbies?
I like to surf in the summer, play football and rugby. I like going out with my friends into town but I also like casual nights where all my mates go to the cinema


What sort of shops do you go into when looking for clothes?
I shop at Quicksilver, billabong and JD sports I like sporty clothing lines as they are comfy


What do you expect to see when you go to see a thriller? Do you think that mine holds any of these aspects?
I would expect scary sound effects and there to be a lot of suspense. And generally thrillers have better story lines than horror films

AS Evaluation 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my target audience I have incorporated many different factors into my media product, I started off my film by building up to the kidnap at the end of the opening sequence. This should catch the audiences attention as I have made the opening interesting enough to watch even though there is not that much happening. 

One of the most important aspects I wanted to include was to make sure that there was a clear theme running throughout and that when the audience saw my characters they would understand what roles they had in the film. For example my film starts off showing the stalker getting ready to leave and then it cuts to the girl getting to leave and then the audience are able to see that the two characters meet in the middle. 


With producing my soundtrack to go over my footage I wanted it to sound like something that would come out of a thriller film like Shutter Island, by the way that there is lots of droning with layering of high pitched sounds. I did this to create more tension while people are watching


As well as these I used a clear narrative to attract my target audience was to make sure that I followed the typical conventions of a thriller movie, which would hopefully attract the audiences that would be interested in my film. 
  

AS Evaluation 6

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

1. Color - I used this programme when I wanted to change the colour of my film. This has helped my film because it has created a darker atmosphere for my film.


2. After Effects - Before using this on my film I had previously used it as a practise doing the 'Perfume' titles so I could get the hang of using it so that my film titles would be to my best ability.


3. Sound Track Pro - In the editing process I used this programme to edit all the different sound effects in my film. I had again never used this programme before so I practised on different clips. It has enabled me to insert music on top of my footage and has allowed me to experiment with different sound effects. 


4. iMac - To edit and produce my movie I had to do it all on an iMac so it was very useful. I had not previously used one before so I spent time find out all the different techniques to edit and look at all the different applications, I have leant a lot from the software and what it offers.


5. Canon 7d - To film my movie I used this camera and I found it easy to use and set up. 


6. Dolly - I used this when I wanted the camera to run next to my actress smoothly. It was the first time I had used it and I found easy to set up I would have liked it if the legs were longer.


7. Tripod - I used this so that I could take steady shots, this was extremely useful


8. Final Cut Pro - This was the main programme I used to edit my film. I had never used it before so I did a few experiments, one example would be my Preliminary and my Mundane task. Final Cut Pro was extremely useful as it let my film flow from shot to shot, I also add a effect from Final Cut Pro onto my film, which was blur. 

AS Evaluation 7

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

Since the start of the course, I had never used a mac so it was starting that was the hardest part for me. However I have leant a lot about research, planning, shooting, editing and distribution/promotion, which goes into making a film. The preliminary task was the beginning of the practical siade of this course. We were taught about all the different camera shots and angles such as long shots, establishing shots and the 180 degree rule in order to create a storyline that would be easy to follow.

Skills that I have leant and improved upon:
- A better knowledge of how to work Final Cut Pro, Sound Track Pro, After Effects and softwares on an iMac. While completing the Preliminary task we did not use Sound Track Pro or After Effects. However when editing my film I was able to use these softwares to make it seem much more professional. 


- Wider variety of shots, close ups, 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, high/low angle shots, long shots, medium shots

- Being able to use media documents; storyboarding and shooting schedule's, these enabled me to be more organised into what I was filmng on that specific say. When planning for our preliminary task, we didnt use any media documents so I feel that this lead to a poorer quality Preliminary film. 

- Lastly I felt in my final media product, because of my developed/ing skills from my Preliminary task I was able to complete an effective looking opening sequence, with the help of all the different programs and shots that I had learnt to make it look more professional.

Sound Track Pro Construction

Here are a few screen grabs showing my process in editing my final opening sequence. Here you can see the different layers and see the depth I have gone into in making sure that the soundtrack is perfectly suited for my film.

Planning Filming

SETTING:

Tool shed = see if it is dark and dirty

My House = will be in lounge

• Putting on Jumper
• coins
• phone (old)

Streets - where she is captured then taken back to the weird place

• Milk
• Money
• Phone

SCENES

• Switches from young girl getting ready to man getting ready. Its is opposites because he is packing killing objects and she is only packing money
• You see them leave at the same time and watch as the young girl is walking to the shops to get milk
• This is when the man appears and you seen him behind the girl walking slowly (close up of the girls face as the is turning around and sees him there, behind her head as she turns around we see how worried she is. 
• As he gets closer the girl starts running and you see the man, but the girl falls and drops all her groceries and phone, money. This will be done in slow motion as the camera starts going blurry
• All that can be seen is the man carrying the young girl in his arms walking into the distance
• Title will come in after this, there will be a boom sound so it almost scares

Things to Concentrate on:

• Do NOT make shots unfocused!
• Make sure they are all steady, exception is when running following the young girl
• Make sure someone is filming me directing and filming so I turn that into a film/ taking pictures

Feed back from movie

I have finally finished filming my final video, however when watching it back I realised that a few camera shots were out of focus, and the video didn't quite fulfil my fellow class mates expectations to what a thriller movie should be like. So I had realised that the most sensible thing to do would be to re-do my filming. I now have so many better ideas and will film as soon as I can, this would also mean a new iCal.
The things that I have now decided to ass in to my film are:
- A male character = he will be getting ready to go out, however his scene would be filmed in a creepy place.
- The young girl - She will also be getting ready to go to the shops, the filming between her and the man will be flashed between the two so the audience can see what both characters are doing
- The girls' walked would only take a few seconds
- Most of the opening would just be of them getting ready
- For other bits to add in the film I will edit it so that the whole scene would be monochrome to show that audience so that they can be fore warn before anything bad happens
- I won't show the young girl being kidnapped but just show that she is being followed, so that the audience only had to guess that she will be taken.

Film Opening Production Company Logo

I have created my film opening production company logo with the help of video co-pilot.
My logo is called Light Production and I think it looks like a professional opening that is why I picked it, not because of whether it would go with my final film.

Light Production

iCal Time Planning

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

March 2012

A day of filming

I spent my saturday filming the opening of my film, I was accompanied by my friend to take pictures of me filming. I need to do another day however I did get a lot of filming done so that is good

Mundane

This is my Mundane task, where I filmed a short clip to show that I am able to shoot lots of different shots and able to edit in a way that can show this.