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

So in comparison to the preliminary task to our main task the preparation was much more organized. Because of that we did not know exactly what to expect from out location and if something unexpected would happened we had to plan everything in much more depth. The whole plot was written on paper while we also had our storyboarding as well as an extra paper involving how the different scenes and etc should be frames, timed and lighted. This was not done before when we did our preliminary task and was something we realized we would have gained better organisation from and was therefore done when doing our main task. The storyboarding was also given much more time in preparation during our main task since we learnt from the preliminary task that this was one of the most important tools used during the day.

Since our main task did not included any dialogue and was instead driven by visual effects the storyboarding was now even more important than during the day we did our preliminary task. The mise en scene and planning of props was also given great consideration since the focus is more on the action and the visuals. Therefore we also choose our actors more carefully since we knew that it was the characters that were going to affect and give the right impression to the audience. So compared to how our preliminary task was organized and planed, it taught us what was important during the day and what we might be needing and missing. This also developed the way we planned the main task in the end, it gave us a greater depth in planning and better result then what we achieved during the preliminary task.

The use of camera was therefore also approved compared to what was performed during the day of our preliminary task. When we were filming the preliminary task we only used wide shots mostly, also doing the whole thing in one shot and then doing minor things we thought would look good in close-ups. This is compared to the main task a big difference in the use of camera, the majority of shots used in our main tasks was separate shots and was most often just close-ups (this also gave more of a challenge when editing). Also when filming the main task we did not spend as much time finding the right framing since we were now more experienced but also thanks to good planning. We were also focusing on the effects of the shots in the main task since the match cut was a big importance to our product which was also a technical aspect that had been improved since the preliminary task. Since we also had a better idea of what we could achieve by editing we also knew how to make the continuity of the shots better then when we did with our preliminary task. When we filmed our preliminary task we also had problems with the 180 degree rule and in fact broke it so now when we were doing the main task we had a better idea of what we were doing and also had more control over things that was happening. Therefore we did not break the 180 degree rule since we learnt from our mistake last time.

The use of sound was not one of the things that the preliminary task was focusing on and therefore we were manly using recorded dialogue and just keeping to the continuity of sound, we only had one sound effect which was a mobile phone sound. So in comparison to the use of sound in our main task there is a big difference, first of all most parts of the sound in our main task is taken from the sound track pro and was therefore much more work compared to the preliminary task. The use of sound was very important for use so that we would be able to achieve the right emotions and tension that we wanted. The sound effects used in the main task was therefore in much more depth than in the preliminary task some things that we used in the main task was: Changing the level of sound in some of the sound clips, using the method of sounds fading in and out, speeding or slowing down some of the sound and much more. During our main task I would say that 50 percent of the time was taking to do sound and sound effect compared to the preliminary task which we only used about 15 percent of the time to do sound.

As I mentioned before the use of editing during our main task was much more challenging since each shot was separate and in need to cut everything together into one piece while we had finished long shots during our preliminary task. Therefore the use of editing and the final cut pro program was much more challenging when editing our main task. We were now in the position of having to think everything through much more such as continuity, plot etc. Therefore more time was also spent on editing our main task and we actually did around three different sequences before we came out with our finished product. So the editing work done for our main task compared to the preliminary task was therefore much more in depth both in planning and challenging in our skills of editing. For example we were using techniques such as laterally reversing some of the shots, speeding up and slowing down the pace of the shots and more which was not used in the preliminary task.

Overall the production of the main task and the preliminary task were very different since the main task was much more challenging and in my opinion giving us greater and more technical skills useful in the future.

In the pictures below you can see how different techniques we were using for the different product, the preliminary task (left picture) is showing and over shoulder shot since there is a conversation going on while our main task (right picture) is showing a single shot. This can be seen through out both of the products.

Evaluation task 6:What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation task 5: How did we attract and address the audience?

How did i attract and address the audience

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

Evaluation task:
The shot of our movie is now finished and we now have a massive work ahead of editing all the different shots into an opening title sequence. When making a movie a big and a very important part are to find and target the right audience for you movie. This is not always easy and in many cases a lot of money and time are put in to find and attract the right audience.

For our thriller the targeting of audience might be a bit difficult, first of all to target an audience big enough and also trying to target as many age groups as possible. In our thriller we have two characters which are both in the age around seventeen and this might help us to attract an audience in the age around our characters, but might create the problem of widen the age group of the audience. The plot of the story therefore has to affect and attract other people then just seventeen year olds. Since our thriller contains more then just teenage problems we can still be able to get the older audience to watch the movie. Our thriller is quite dark and is in a way a psychological thriller and one of the characters is behaving like she has psychological problems. The thriller we are making could in many ways be compared to the movie “seven” and the newly released movie “black swan” these movies are both dark and the drama and action in the movie is very intense.

In this stage it is in many cases hard to target and tell which specific audience our film is for, but I absolutely think that our thriller will be for women and girls mostly. The age as I said before could vary but is initially for people between the ages of 15-28 probably. The age is connected to a lot of the things involved in the story such as storyline, characters, and surroundings and may also connect the movie to other movies they already like. The characteristics of our audience could be connected to the plot which is initially about a break up so people going through or feeling connection to the plot and feelings in the thriller is a big part of our audience and this could both be boys and girls. This characteristic could also include all kinds of people with different clothes, make-up and appearance shown in the pictures below.

The behaviour of these people could also be all different and could fit people with all sorts of occupation and hobbies. Since the movie doesn’t contain any a-star cast list it would be hard to target the audience just for the sake of the cast list but it could eventually develop a bigger interest if the performance by the characters in the movie is good. Especially for teenagers the behaviour is often affected by the behaviour of friends and what thoughts of other people.

                                                        

Evaluation task 3: What institution would distribute my media product?

Evaluation task:
My film I would say has elements of being a physiological thriller and could be produced at a low budget. This could fit many different institutions but I think that FOX SEARCHLIGHT is an intuition that would agree to produce the film and would also be successful with the making of the finished product. FOX has invested in low budget movies before and with a successful gross return but most of all the company takes risks sometimes when choosing which movie to produce which also forced them in some cases not to use famous actors. So since FOX SEARCHLIGHT is producing independent horror/thriller it would help us to get the company interested in my product, they also newly released “black swan” which is a physiological thriller just like my film.

So many of the criteria’s that the institution is using when making a movie fits to the criteria’s of my product: it is low budget, no famous actors, may be a risk and is a thriller. The movie could be distributed both in the cinema and DVD/Blu-ray depending what the audience want when watching a thriller, but I think that it could give FOX SEARCHLIGHT a good gross return.

Evaluation task 2: How does your product represent particular social groups?

In our product there are two social groups to analyze since there are two different characters, one female character and one male character both represented in very different ways.
The female character is represented as vulnerable and emotionally uncontrolled, she is taking her anger, frustration and all other emotions into creating the tension and the sense of danger that we were aiming to achieve in the sequence. This view is adhering to a specific stereotype where the girl is the one losing control and creating a specific emotional state where it is classified as psychological problems more than just feelings. I choose a screen grab which I thought would represent the feelings that she is having also showing her obsession of anger and of the male character in a way. This is also in some ways also what some of the female audience may feel connection to, meaning that our female character is representing the female teenagers feeling and adhering to her feelings. This might be because they actually be through the same emotional state or that they are just siding with her think, her point of view/feelings is the right way to react. A movie which is also showing a female character being in an uncontrollable emotional state is “The black swan”. The main character is losing control over herself and her emotions which could in some ways be compared to our female character.
The trailer for black swan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

The male character are on the other hand represented as to the total opposite to how the female character, he is portrayed as calm, relaxed and has more eased feeling about the situation. He is at the same time removing evidence and photos of the female ever being there, this are seen in the screen grabs. Since there is a big contrast it is suppose to give the audience a choice to side depending on what group you may relate to. The male character is also adhering to a stereotype, showing him as not caring, relaxed and casual about the situation this often seen as man being a jerk, referring to a “heartbreaker” often seen and portrayed as a villain in media products. One movie where there is a similar character is in a movie called “John tucker must die” which basically is about a guy taking break-ups and girls with light-hearted feeling also adhering to the stereotype explained above.
Trailer for John Tucker must die movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzrj97cGifw