Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 7

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

 Whilst constructing our preliminary task we learnt a variety of skills. Firstly, during filming we were able to try out using the cameras we were going to use to film our final opening sequence so it was a good opportunity to get to know how to use the camera properly. As part of the task we had to use the 180 degree rule properly, for this we had to research and learn what the rule was and make sure we used it throughout. We did manage to do this successfully and understood the importance of it. Another important aspect of the prelim task that we had to make sure we included was making sure there were no continuity errors, we also managed to do this successfully and realised we must make sure this is kept up throughout the opening sequence as well as the prelim. Once we'd filmed our short video we then had to edit it, to do this we used Final Cut Express. Just like the camera this was our first opportunity to work out how to use this software, this was made easier by having a member of our group that is use to using it, she was then able to teach us how to use it. As part of the task we had to shot/reverse shot editing and action match editing. We successfully included both of these. We could also learn the basics including importing the videos onto the software, cropping videos and how to export the final video in the correct format for uploading it to YouTube. 

 We also had to make sure the sound was okay throughout, so firstly whilst filming we made sure the actors spoke loudly and clearly. We also did the filming in a quiet room to make sure there was no unwanted ambient sounds. Then whilst editing we made sure we cropped out anything that shouldn't have been there, for example any laughing or any directions from the person filming.

 As well as the filming and editing the prelim task also gave us a chance to plan the scene and direct the actors and for us the same actors did the prelim that were going to star in the opening sequence therefor was a chance to see how good they were as actors and how well we all worked as a group. We also had to plan the speech and where the actors should be at different times. As a group we worked well planning the piece and directing the actors to do what would work best.

 The preliminary task acted as a good opportunity to practice these skills for our main task however since then our skills have greatly developed. Firstly our filming skills have improved as we were able to try out different angles and shots and figure out which would work best in different situations and learnt how to explain why we used these shots, for example low angles to make a character look more dominant and controlling. We also made sure the 180 degree rule that we learnt in the prelim was kept up throughout the main task if necessary. We were particularly happy with the camera shots we got for the credits as we used a range of different angles such as extreme close ups of the wife to make the viewer feel more involved and a loose frame so it makes her seem smaller and the room bigger to make her look vulnerable and isolated.

 In regards to editing I feel this is where our skills have developed the most as for the prelim all we really had to do was import, crop and export whereas for our opening sequence we were learning how to do new things such as adding effects, transitions, adding text, changing the sound (either the volume or adding an effect) and our end piece was a lot more advanced due to the editing knowledge we were able to use throughout. We choose the best edits for the situations in our opening piece for example fades to blackouts if we want to make it clear the next scene is a different location or something new will happen like the transition between the sister being at the door and them putting up posters.

  We choose three different pieces of music for our opening sequence, the first was a mysterious and creepy piece that it almost uncomfortable to hear which symbolises that for some our film will be uncomfortable to watch. The next piece starts when the husband enters the cellar and as this is the climax of our opening we choose music that will get even creepier and has a very eerie feel to it. As well as the music we also had the sound of a heartbeat through the cellar scene and the credit, this was the heartbeat of the wife and show she's scared and worried about her safety. Since the prelim activity our sound skills developed greatly as we had more than dialogue to include and we had to learn how to choose the music effectively and make sure it all blends in nicely. We also had a flashback in our opening and to make it clear this is going on in the husbands mind we added an effect to the sound and made it echo, we adjusted the volume to make sure we were happy with how it sounded and worked visually and we were happy with the end product.

 And in terms of planning and directing I felt we succeeded as we worked well as a group, we all had our different jobs so it worked out. For example if two of us were acting and one filming the other person would be able to stand back and see It from and audience's perspective which allowed them to see what was working and what wasn't. Although the was not much dialogue in our piece we wrote a speech and made a storyboard which helped us stick to the plan however we found when filming that some things weren't going to work and there were some things that would work better and our communication as a group allowed us all to share thoughts and opinions so we were able to change what we weren't happy with. This was better than during the prelim as our opening sequence needed a lot more planning and we successful in this.

 We didn't have too many problems when filming and editing our preliminary task. Whilst filming the only problem we had was making sure there were no continuity errors, as we were going to cut the scene at certain points to move the camera however we realised this wasn't going to look realistic and wouldn't all match, to over come this we kept the camera in the same spot, especially at the end when the actors stood up. 

 Whilst editing the only issue we had was that some of our clips disappeared after we'd uploaded them, however as we'd just filmed it we were able to just plug the camera back in and import them again, although it wasn't a big problem it did waste a bit of time for us and it was something we didn't want to happen in our opening sequence in case we weren't able to get the clips back.

 We didn't want to encounter the same issues in our opening sequence so made sure we learnt from them. In terms of the continuity errors it was trickier than in the prelim as our opening sequence wasn't all shot in the same day, therefore we had to Make sure the characters looked the same and that everything matched. One way we made sure this was the case was by checking the clips after filming them to make sure it all matched and whilst watching back and in the editing process we didn't come across any continuity errors so we know we were successful in learning from our mistakes before. 

 In regards to the issue with the disappearing clips this did occur a couple of times however there wasn't anything we could have done to prevent this and the first time it happened we did loose our work however from then on we learnt to be extra careful in making sure everything was saved and this made sure that if we lost any clips we would still have what we'd done so far. Therefore this didn't cause us too much trouble when it came to our main task and we were able to include every clip we wanted to.

 Overall in the two tasks we've been able to learn and develop many new skills, mainly that the most important part in the editing process is to save our work regularly as it saved us a lot of time that we could have wasted by losing it and having to re do it all. We also learnt the importance of the 180 degree rule and continuity errors, both factors allowed both pieces to look a lot more accurate and realistic. Teamwork was a massive part of our work and Without the communication and different ideas we had in our group I don't think our work would have been successful, everyone played a different part in the process and we all worked hard and got everything done that we needed to.

Written by Jessica Granger

Evaluation Question 6

 Evaluation Question 6

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

During the process of filming, editing and creating our opening sequence, we used a variety of technology, equipment and softwares to help contribute to the quality of our film. The primary tool we used to record and film our opening sequence was a digital camera, provided by the school. The editing software we used to edit our opening sequence was Final Cut Express, where we could add audio, effects, edit scene transitions and cuts. For our production logo, we used a different software called LiveType. This allowed us to create the ideal production logo that we brainstormed and designed. Documenting all our progression during this project was done via Blogger. This allowed us to embed Youtube clips, post pictures of our filming days, and write various summaries of how our filming and editing was progressing. As mentioned before, we used Youtube also to upload our 1st, 2nd and final cuts of our opening sequence. This made it much simpler to post put videos on our blog. Furthermore, another piece of technology we learnt to deal with was lighting. We needed to develop skills concerning lighting due to the fact that it was a major factor in setting the scene/mood of our opening sequence. All these various platforms of technology, equipment and softwares had both strengths and weaknesses, and had both a positive ad negative impact on our whole creation of our opening sequence.

Camera and Tripod

We were given both a tripod and camera by the school, which assisted us with filming the footage needed for our opening sequence. Both the tripod and camera were great help and were at the core to our filming. One way that the tripod was helpful in the way we could rotate it to the left and right. By the tripod being able to rotate back and fourth, it made it easier for us to record shots such as tracking shots and panning shots. Being able  to do this allowed us the set the scene through panning shots, and helped us to follow and track characters as well.

The tripod had other function other than being able to rotate left and right. The tripods legs could also extend further to stand much taller than originally, and the tripod head also tilted forward and back. This was a key tool for our filming because it really helped us with camera shots. The tripod having the ability to title forward and back helped us developed and high angled shots. This was so important to our filming because of the fact the it allowed us to use various angled shots on the characters. It helped us to use low angled shots on the male character which helped us to represent him and dominant and powerful, and give an intimidating impression. It also helped us establish high angled shots on the female character, which helped us to represent the female as inferior and submissive to the husband. The tripod helped us to make our filming represent various character in different ways.

We used the digital camera to our advantage through the use of the ability to zoom in and out. We learnt how to zoom in and out with the camera, which was useful when trying to zoom in and out of various scenes. This was especially convenient during our first scene where we had fairly close up shot on the male. We were able to zoom in far enough to make the male character the main subject, but we were still able to fit the laptop in the frame to show that the content on the laptop was important. The zooming feature was helpful due to the fact that it allowed us to focus/unfocused on one subject and varied our shot portfolio. 

There were a few limitations with both the tripod and camera. One limitation of the tripod was that occasionally, we received one that did not rotate 360 degrees. This meant that we often experienced difficulty tracking and following characters, and prolonged the time of us filming. Due to the tripod not rooting completely, it forced us to change and consider different positions to place the camera so that we could track the characters to our discretion. Another limitation we experience in relation to the cameras is the issue of focus. Often when we zoomed in/out of subject, it would rake a while to focus. This was very inconvenient as it often ruined large amounts of filming, causing us to refill the whole piece of footage again.

Apart from the very few limitations that slowed down the process, the tripod and camera were key pieces of equipment that had a huge influence on the quality of our footage and opening sequence in general. As stated before, the tripod helped us with many representations of characters, and the camera helped us to put emphasis on certain aspects of our opening sequence.

Final Cut Express

The editing software we used to put together all of footage and gather it collectively to make a suitable opening sequence was Final Cut Express. Final Cut had many helpful tools that assisted us with ensuring that our opening sequence was to the highest standards. The software helped us with adding audio to drive and build tension within the text, helped us transition the scenes from one another to make it more realistic and smooth, and furthermore assisted us with filtering out footage to suit our needs.

One good feature of Final Cut Express is of course the editing/transitioning tools. This allowed us to use a variety of transitioning affected, including a cross dissolve transition, as well as fades both in and out. This was essential to our opening sequence it helped the audience to understand the plot and contributed to our text running smoothly without any sudden cuts. This scene transitions also helped illustrate the mysterious and sinister environment we were trying to portray toward the audience.

Another element of Final Cut Express that was helpful towards the editing of our opening was the editing bar at the bottom of the software that acted as a timeline of footage. This displayed both our visual and audio content at the bottom, and was the main place to arrange how our footage was ordered. This was a helpful attribute to the group because it made it much easier to organise scenes and helped identify which content we needed. It was also where we could select specific content to edit.

Final Cut Express only one fault/downside to our editing. This negative element was the constant theme of having to render our content. This often cause the opening sequence as a whole not to play. The constant rendering proved to be very time consuming and inconvenient.  Along with this constant rendering needed was the need to re-upload content due to it not saving or being deleted. Despite not suffering the worse scenario possible, it was frustrating having to keep reloading footage and also having to re-edit them into the main sequence.

Livetype

This was the software we used for creating and developing our production logo that appeared at the start of our opening sequence. This enabled us creating a moving text that stated our production company Twisted Productions. This was a good software which was appropriate for our opening sequence because it allowed us to export it directly to final cut express, which meant we could successfully/smoothly move it into our opening sequence. This was also convenient for our opening sequence because adding a production logo at the start allowed our sequence to automatically look much more realistic and professionally edited, and gives it a more form and classy look.

In truth, the software’s layout proved to be very difficult. The software’s coordination made it very hard to navigate your way around the software, and prolonged the process of developing the production logo. Due to this, it meant that it was hard for all group members to contribute a sufficient amount to the production logo, especially in comparison to Final Cut Express.

Another limitation to this software was the niche variety of affects in relation to the lettering. Although we could use certain features to move whole letters, we couldn't find any features that allowed us to edit specific parts of letter. This was a let down to our opening sequence due to the fact that we were adamant on a specific idea of how our production logo would appear, however we  were unable to do so. In addition to not being able to affect certain parts of letter, we also admired a certain feature that worked very well for opening sequence called Frigid. The only downside to this feature was the unwanted flashing of a blue colour. Initially, it flashed white and blue, however we tried in our best efforts to change it to where and red. Unfortunately, even with assistance from the teacher, we were unable to eliminate the blue flashing. We consequently had to compromise with white red and blue flashing instead of just red and white.

Blogger

Blogger was the social media network we used to document all final versions of various material, update progression reports and upload rough cuts. As a group, we all feel that it was a good and interactive way to help the process of writing up various different reports. We feel that this aspect of our production had many more strength compared to weaknesses and was a rather cooperative tool during the process of developing our opening sequence.

One strength we feel Blogger demonstrated was the convenience of being able to upload photos and videos. During our the process of writing filming day evaluations, we required the ability to upload pictures to help summarise the day. Although at first we had difficulty establishing how to copy and paste shots, we eventually found how to insert the photos. This was helpful because it allowed us to add that multimedia aspect to the writing element of our opening sequence. Another good aspect of Blogger was the ability of embedding youtube videos. We simply had to click the share button at the bottom of the youtube video > click the “embed” button > copy the link given that in the bar > open a new post on Blogger > click the HTML button at the top left > paste the link previously copied. This was another quick and easy method of posting Youtube videos, and made it extremely easy to import them and integrate them into our written content. This was helpful towards our overall development of our opening sequence due to the fact that it helped us to post rough/practice cuts, as well as our 1st, 2nd and Final Cut of our opening sequence. Furthermore it allowed transporting the videos between group members a lot more efficient.

An additional tool that all group members found helpful was the tool to allow us to date and order our paste. There was a bar at the side before every post that gave the option of changing the date to our preference. This was helpful to the group as it allowed us to collate and organise our material appropriately, for example, date our preliminary filming evolution right after the actual footage of our preliminary task. This helped to help navigate our blogs a lot more easily, improving the aesthetics of our blog. 

One feature of Blogger that was a minor inconvenience was the fact that we could not embed Microsoft Word documents straight onto the website. Even with assistance from the teacher, she informed us that the only we would be capable of embedding Word documents onto Blogger was through other platforms that we were unable to access due to needing an account to pay for it. Apart from that minor misfortune, as a group, we felt Blogger was good platform to help us document our progression.

Lighting

Lighting wasn't necessarily a piece of technology that we acquired skills from, however we certainly acknowledged that it is major influence on the quality of our filming. Due to the location of our main scene of our opening sequence being in an underground cellar, we immediately had to establish a suitable lighting that would make our footage visible. We couldn't find a suitable lighting for our opening sequence, but fortunately, we find a level of exposure that in fact added to the mysteriousness of our scene. This lighting was transferable from one room to another, however we found some trouble finding where to place it. This is because the lighting in some places caused our footage to be too bring, and in other places we didn't have enough lighting. This was also because we could not find a position where the shadows of the cameraman and other members of the group weren't shown in the background. All round, we experience quite a few errors in terms of lighting, however they were all accepted due to the fact that once we fond a suitable position, it was very effective towards the overall mood and atmosphere of our opening sequence.

Written by Jack

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

What did we find out from our audience research:

• Based on our audience feedback, we found out that people liked our used of location. This is because isolated locations such as the cellar are typical to the thriller genre as they evoke connotations of the unknown and foreshadow a negative event. We hope that this will then attract our audience as they can associate the location with the type of genre  and be more aware of what they are about to watch. 
• They also said that the acting was overall convincing, however the shot with the sister at the beginning knocking at the door wasn't necessarily needed, so during editing we decided to take this bit out in order to make sure that viewers on a wider scale didn't think the same and dislike the opening sequence because of it. 
• Improvements given to us such as turning the volume up of the non-diegetic music towards the end of our opening sequence to build up more suspense. 

How we changed the opening sequence to tailor needs for audience:

We increased the volume of the production so that it delivered a larger impact, as well as taking on board the audience feedback in order to suit their needs. We had also added a heartbeat sound to build tension so that the audience felt the music bought more suspense when watching the opening sequence. In the questionnaire, the volunteers stated that we should keep the cellar in an untidy condition so it looks more realistic and so it signifies the mind of the husband; chaotic and confused. The costumes that the main characters (husband and wife) were wearing were chosen by our target audience. We gave them a number of different options to chose from and the most popularly voted was the outfit worn by our actors. Our group decided to do this so that we could interpret our audience's perspective and opinions. 

Genre Signifiers:

We used genre signifiers throughout the sequence in order to portray a realistic representation of a psychological thriller genre. We included the generic conventions of the colour ‘red’ within the sequence, a connotation of danger, blood and fear. In addition, the colour of the husband's outfit was black, creating a mysterious tone as the absence of the colour black makes the sequence generate narrative enigma. The ominous and eerie non-diegetic music overlaying the sequence, created a foreboding tone which generated fear within the audience, a common convention of other films within this genre. The general dark setting and shadows also are conventional of the thriller genre, further creating more signifiers in order to clearly show the audience what the opening sequence genre is.

How was the opening sequence engaging: 

Within our audience research, we asked the respondents whether they wanted to keep watching the film, most of which had replied yes. We also asked if they would go to the cinema to watch the film and all voted yes. This was due to the several narrative enigma codes that was present within the film, leaving the audience questioning what may occur next. For example, the shot of the wife tied up in the cellar gets the audience questioning why she is in there and what she had done to be locked up. The flashback may also give the audience an indication of where the film may be heading, making the audience wonder what may happen within the sequence later on. The respondents stated that they were engaged with the film as it was unique but at the same time followed the conventions of the thriller genre very well.

Audience Theory:

The uses and gratifications can be found within our opening sequence, it provides escapism from their normal boring lifestyle, with something to in capture their attention, however it may also fulfil entertainment needs as the sequence may seem to have suspense and tension. Our sequence also falls into the social interaction aspect of the theory as the audience gain an insight into the circumstances of others, in this case, the female victim that is being held hostage by her husband, allowing the audience to identify with others and empathise with them. Richard Dyer's Utopian solutions can also be found within our media text as it fulfils the problem of boredom. Our film allows audiences to be excited by the thrill of our plot, which allows them to escape from their normal daily lives; this engages them and causes them to want to carry on watching the film. 

Audience Feedback: 

Using the focus group, as seen within the video, we were able to gain feedback about our opening sequence from a range of genders who were the target audience. We had further asked more people within our class to watch the opening sequences and made changes in order to minimise the weaknesses of the production. Though the production had also been added onto YouTube, there had not been much feedback surrounding the comment box, however, we had people from the school further tell us about the opening sequence during lunch time. In general, the feedback we received was very positive and we had little alteration to do to our final cut of our film. We were advised to make the ending scene more tense by increasing the volume of the non-diegetic music and by also adding screams and struggling noises from the wife. This was to connote that she was scared and was struggling to get out from the cellar. This made our ending sequence much more effective as it built up tension and suspense within the audience and also made the plot of our opening sequence more believable. 

Todorov's Theory:

According to Todorov, all film plots and stories follow the same narrative structure:

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• Battle for resolution
• New Equilibrium

But our plot is unconventional as our group decided to start with the disruption to immediately grab the attention of our audience. This will keep the audience engaged from the outset and throughout the film. By starting with the disruption it also indicates how un-mentally stable the mind of the husband and signifies the seriousness of the situation to the audience. 

Planned and written by Freya (me)

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience demographic for our media product is mainly straight, British, both male and female, all ethnicities, working class as we feel our film can be used as an escape from the stress that could be going on at work and also students aged 15-24+ . The reason our media product targets both genders is because the genre is quite a uni-sexual one, psychological thriller, and does not usually appeal to one gender more than the other as it is known as a very entertaining genre and always keeps the audience on edge. This is exactly what we tried to convey by using many conventional methods for a psychological thriller, for example, low-key lighting, slow increase in pace of the soundtrack, enigma codes and the choice of our abandoned location.

The socio-economic status of our target audience for our media product is C2, D and E. The reason we target the bottom half of the scale is because our main target audience is 15-24+ which of course, the majority of this age range may still be in education and not earning money unless they have a part time job. We chose not to target lower than the age of 15 because our film would have scenes of swearing and violence and maybe even drug use which would not be appropriate for anyone under the age of 15 because at that age many people are yet to have matured and could possibly have a bad effect on them.

In terms of Uses and Gratifications theory our audience may use our media product the escape from the stress of education and be entertained as our opening sequence will keep them on edge and by having enigma codes they will connect with the film as they will be asking many questions and wanting to find out the answers.

We feel looking at Young and Rubicam's Audience Type Theory that 'the mainstreamer' and 'the struggler' are the two best suited types of people for our media product. The reason for this is because the struggler is a type of person who has a lot of struggles in their lives and needs escape from it all, and we feel our opening sequence is best suited for them as they can forget about what may be going on in their lives and instantly get engaged by our use of narrative enigma in our opening sequence. Our storyline may be difficult to understand so it will need our audience paying attention and not worrying about other struggles in their lives. The second type of person we would target is the mainstreamer as we feel our media product has such an entertaining storyline and plot that once someone has watched it, they will spread the word and other people will follow in their footsteps. It will urge people to want to fit in as they will not want to miss out on potentially a very exciting and engaging film.

The psychographic of the audience for our media product are people with mainstream fashion, have a sense of uncertainty because of the stress of their normal lives, who thrive on tense moments, and enjoy escaping and focusing on figuring out the questions they may who to do with our narrative.

Another reason we chose to target 15-24 year old's is because during our focus group which featured both males and females, they all seemed to very impressed with the opening sequence and would go and watch our media product in the cinema. Seeing as the people in our focus group were 16 and 17, it helped us decide to focus around that age range.

Another type of research we done in to our best suited target audience was through a questionnaire. We gave 10 people our questionnaire and made sure they were all from different ages, backgrounds and socio economic groups as the feedback we get would then have opinions from a wide variety of people. The feedback we got was that 9 out of the 10 people felt our target audience should be 16-20 years old as 11-15 years old is too young as our film is quite graphic and involves violence and bad language. This helped us in deciding on our target audience because it meant we had the opinions of people who were not involved.

Written by Robbie Butt

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?
 

Planned, written and made as a group.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the camera stopped recording towards the end of our question and did not record us speaking about the theories. 

According to Angela McRobbie, all women are manipulated by the media into believing they should act a certain way. She believes that the media try and socialise into particular gender roles. In our opening sequence we have followed McRobbie's gender theory as we have represented women as being submissive and as feminine through are use of costume choice. Women are seen to be wearing pink which is a main stereotype of women. Pink signifies femininity and we wanted to present to the audience that we are following the stereotype conventions in the opening of our film as an equilibrium but during the end of the film all the stereotypes and represenations are broken and changed. We also dressed the wife in red to connote her sexuality and that she is promiscus, which most woman are represented as an object according to Laura Mulvey's gender theory. She states that there are only two main roles for women in society. One being represented as a virgin; innocent and vunerable, easily taken advantage of. The other being a "whore" and being sexually promiscuous. In our opening sequence we have represented the wife as both of these. Being the "virgin" as she has been locked up in the cellar and acts as the innocent wife being treated badly by her own husband. Hence the reason she has a white skirt on to signify her innocence and purity. On the other hand, she is also seen as a "whore" as she cheated on her husband and he is making his revenge. This is also the reason why we put her in a red top to connote her promiscuous action. 

Film as a group, writing by me (Freya)

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1

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

 

Planned and answered as a group.