Evaluation of main task

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

The genre of our film was horror, We thought of doing horror because it seems intriguing, the way how they use point of view camera shots and also keeping the identity of the killer a mystery. The use of sound is also very interesting e.g. the digetic sound made when two people clash into one a another. Before we made this video we looked through few horror movies and picked out a certain horror movie called ‘ Halloween’ and analysed the opening scene ( 2 mins) like: camera angles, sound etc. Our movie ‘The Unknown used a lot of the features of the movie ‘Halloween’ . We used a lot of the same camera shots like a point of view shot of the killer looking at there victims, also zoomed in shots of key features we wanted to make it stand out to the audience. This shot was used at the beginning of Halloween when the camera zooms into the house and also the scary pumpkin. The use of sound was kind of similar but a bit different as well. We made our own original beat and played it through certain parts so that the audience get the hint that’s something is about to happen. This technique again was used in ’Halloween’. Mise en scene different for e.g. the clothes my actors wore, because the movie Halloween was made in 1971 which portrays to us that the style of clothing was different back then compared to now. There were certain techniques that we used that was different to Halloween. For example we used slow motion editing when the women gets scared. Also we used close up shots of face and objects getting kicked. Few side shots was also used in certain parts of our video.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my opinion I think this movie would be suitable for children 15 or older because, there are signs of horror in the movie but not too horrified that the children would get really scared. I say that there are certain bits really scary and certain bits which aren’t. This movie would be suitable for males/females because there are no sexist scenes or any kind of sexisms involved all the way through. I think this movie is represented to mentally ill because the killer in our movie is a person who is crazy and cant control anything he does, also he shows up in certain places very quickly and he is always there staring towards people in such away, as if he was going todo something really bad. To be honest our movie was just the opeining minutes to a movie but if it was a full movie you would be able to see how he escaped out of mental prison and also how he became like this.

What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

In my opinion I think working title two (WT2) would distribute my media product, this is because, this film is classified as a class D British film, which means that this is a British movie, using UK locations but money is funded by an American company called Universal which owns WT2. Also working title 2 distributes low budget films e.g. Shawn of the Dead was one famous film with a low budget of only £4 million, which was distributed by Working Title 2. This is a similar style film to my media product. A purely UK distribution which could distribute my media product is ‘Metrodome Distribution’. This company produces low budget films e.g. ‘The Scar Crow’. Also this company would class my media product to be a Category E, because everything would be from UK.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We aimed our product at people of the age of fifteen and older as are product is a horror, but not so scary that it has to be rated an eighteen. The age range for the product is for people between the ages of 15-30. The reason for this is because we have a young modern cast in the film, which attracts a younger audience. We did this purposely as people between the ages of 15 and 30 are the people that go to the cinema on a regular basis. We have a mixture of cultures and ethnicity’s within the cast of the film, which we purposely did to attract all faiths and races to watch the film.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

Firstly the genre we used in our opening scene was Horror. We tried to portray this genre using many different techniques such as adding sound and also changing the contrast of the scene in some parts. Firstly, we would have to have suitable music which went with the scene. We decided to have intimidating music as the genre was horror, this added a different dimension to the scene it intensified it and made it more gripping to the audience.

Than we decided to change the contrast of a particular part in the scene adding a black and white feature to it, this added a different edge to the scene it showed the Unknown Killer sharpening tools in a menacing way and the black and white feature made it more surreal, the audience could see that this man was on edge, also the black and white feature maybe at the time could represent how the man was feeling e.g. it could represent his mood at the time, it also could represent that his life was not getting better but was going down a down would path maybe there was no hope for this man I believe the audience could pick this up.

In the opening scene we used many different shots and angles to make the scene more enthralling. Firstly there was the shot of the girl running, we used a steady cam to show the scene at a much closer view, and it showed the girl trying to escape this man which would keep the audience on edge.

We also used many other shots such as the point of view shot from the girls eyes, were she could see the unknown man but nobody else could this could grab the audience’s attention but also could make them ask the question why, which maybe would lead them to watching the whole film wanting to know what happens.

We also decided to add a slow motion effect to the scene, were the girl stops and freezes in shock, the audience could take a lot from that as they may see it as a natural reaction which could add realism to scene.

I believe the techniques used would keep the audience enthralled and wanting more. Also the scene ended on a cliff-hanger it wasn’t clear what had happened to these people, however it may also leave people confused as to what was going on. But I believe the risk is worth taking as people may want to know what happened and therefore will want to watch the full film.

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

We didn’t have that much trouble using the camera because we had enough practice when we created our prelim video. We had a bit of trouble getting certain angles therefore we had to take certain shots more than once. Also for certain shots we had to wait because the reflection of the sun was enabling us to record the shots as we hoped. The tripod was really helpful because the camera would stay steady and make the movie look more professional. The editing software was pretty simple because again we had practice using it for our prelim video. We did struggle few times when we had to render few parts we edited e.g. when n we made certain parts black and white, and also when we added slow motion effects when the girl gets scared. We also made our own scary tune using garage band. One of the members in our group merged certain beats and created an original piece.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to the full task?

In the preliminary task we learnt all the basic aspects of media. We learnt all the different camera angles and point of view shots. The preliminary task was great preparation for the main task. We learnt a big lesson as we made a big mistake; we filmed the preliminary task over two days in which one of our cast had different clothes on to the first day. This shows that we underestimated the detail that goes into filming. We made sure this didn’t happen again on the main task, so we did learn from our mistake. We all as a group gained skills from the first task. We learnt about camera angles, lighting and how to make the end product blend fluently together. The main task felt like a big step up to the preliminary, I remember my teacher pointing out that we made a lot of mistakes after the first filming session, so we went back out to film the same day and corrected those mistakes to ensure that our product reaches a high level that we were all satisfied with. We used a lot more skills in the main task. In parts of our opening scene we slowed the footage down as it made it look more dramatic. Also we used a point of view shot whilst the girl is running to build up the tension and to add to the horror theme we had going on. The mistakes we made first of all was quite basic, for example the girls leading leg does not follow up into the next clip which blatantly standed out. When we first started the main task and our teacher told us it had to be two minutes long we thought it would be easy to fill up that time, but that wasn’t the case. After we cut down each clip we filmed it wasn’t as long as we expected which made us have to rethink about the whole plan we had set. Eventually we decided to add another scene which last around 20 seconds which turned out perfectly as it finished our product to a good standard that we were all happy with.

TREATMENT OF MAIN TASK

The opening of a short film: TITLE - The Unknown GENRE - HORROR

Duration - 2 mins

Audience - 15+ (due to childrens safety as it is not suitable for them)


Resume - Shot of girl walkingn back from college, she decides to take a shortcut through the park, as she is walking along she starts hearing noises, she feels as if somebody is watchin her. she than starts walking faster as she is scared and nervous, she than stops as she sees a unidentified person, she than starts running. As she is running she is looking back and does not see the person ahead. She runs into the person which turns out to be her friend, she is now much calmer. She and her friend walk along the path, the Girl suddenly stops and notices the same person following them, she panics and tells her friend to run, they than find a place to hide. the unknown person walks towards them(you can hear him come closer as the branches on the floor break) the man finds the Victims, there is than a caption "3 days later" there is a shot of the girl and the boy on a Missing sign.

Suggested Elements -

Key Locations - Park , Building

Costumes - Plain Clothes

Title - Name of film and Actors who are in it, also producers.

Recording days - 3-5 days recording with 5 lessons on editing

SHOTLIST OF MAIN TASK

1. Front shot of girl walking

2. Back shot of girl walking

3. Point of view shot of girl looking back and thinks she’s being followed.

4. Long shot of girl walking a bit faster

5. Looks back again and realizes no one is there

6. Medium shot of girl running

7. Point of view shot of when girl is running and looking back

8. Side shot of when the girl bumps into a guy

9. Close up shot girls face all scared and sweaty

10. Side shot of the girl and guy walking in park

11. Front shot of girl and guy walking in the park

12. Point of view shot of the girl looking back again and sees the unknown guy

13. Medium shot the girl telling the guy to run

14. Extreme close up of the girl and guys shoes while running

15. Point of view shot of unknown guy walking and following the 2 people

16. Extreme close up shot of the unknown guy breaking a tree branch

17. Side medium shot of the girl and guy hiding

18. Point of view shot of the girl looking back and gets scared

19. A normal shot of a street

20. Point of view of a person walking towards a poster

21. And extreme close up shot of the guy and girls pictures with a missing sign.

Analysis Of halloween

Halloween Opening Scene :

Camera/Editing

During the opening sequence of Halloween there is no continuity editing. It starts of with a point of view shot of the house, which then graually gets closer towards the front door, which portrays to the audience that someone is watching that house. Theere is a close up of the pumpkin outside the house, which indicates that its halloween. The point of view shot carried on all the way thorugh the opening scene. There was only two close up shots, ( one of the pumpkin and the other is of the knife this person picks up from the kitchen draw. Not much editing was used . The only visible edit used is when the mask is put on and you see his perspective through the mask.

Sound

The sound for the opening is non-diegetic, as it is used over the top of the scene. It is used to build suspense and tension, for example during the title scene, a piano sound is used to keep the audience in suspense. It is a nervy eerie tone which sets the mood for the rest of the film. And again this tune indicates to us that its an horror. As the title scene ends, the setting of the house is established and the diegetic sounds of crickets and people talking is heard. Non-diegetic sound then comes in again as the characters in the house have gone upstairs and the light switches off. Every light in the house is off, it was pitch black apart from the main doorway. More nervy music is then used to keep the audience on edge, and the piano sound continues.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene of Halloween is typical of the horror genre, as it is set at night, and the house looks isolated. The lighting is dim and mysterious, giving a scary mood and giving the effect that something bad is going to happen. Most of the scene is in the dark, which adds suspense to the scene. The house is old fashined and simple, although there are elements in which give a creepy feel, for example, the rocking chair in the dark corner. The costume of the sister and her boyfriend are casual, which adds a sense of realism, whereas, the main character is in a clown costume, and wears a mask, this makes the murder more creepy. Also after he kills his sister, we are shown that its only a small boy, which gets the audience thinking why?

Prelim Task video

Premilinary Task Evaluation

In the filming and editing of your project, what worked well and what could have been improved?

Editing worked really well becasue most of the shots we had were taken correctly which meant less editing had to be done.

We had a problem with the 180 degree rule, as it was the first time we tried it therefore we couldn't exactly get the shot right. Also we had a problem with the people not wearing the same clothes, because the first time we did the 180 degree rule, it was not that good, so we did again on a different date, which caused a few implications.

Give a detailed, specific example of how you have used a shote/ reverse shot combination in your film?

Two people sitting across from each other, where one person was taller than the other person talking ( eye shot). We achieved this by using the 180 degree rule.

Give detailed, specific example of how you achieved , match cuts during the editing process?

We recorded more then what we needed,so that when we edited the clip we made sure we had the correct macthing. e.g if one shot was of a person walking through the door, the hand he used to open the door (e.g. left) he should use the same hand to open the door if we take other shots. We also made sure when the person was walking he walked fluently into the next shot. if one shot was ending with his left leg leading then the next clip should match up with that to make sure its fluent.

How did you achieve continuity in this task? Or if your transitions weren't entirely smooth, what have you learnt?

We achieved continuity by making sure the people were in the exact same spot, and had the same clothes on for e.g. when we took one of the shot we got a teacher that was sitting in a specific place, therefore we made sure she was there throughout out the clip). Like i said before we couldn't get the 180 degree rule correct the first time, and because we had todo it on another day the continuity wasn't as good. Next time we need to make sure this doesn't happen.

What did you learn about the cameras and editing software during the preliminary task?

I learnt how to export using quicktime conversion, which then leads into creating an MPEG4 movie. I was also taught realised how to extract a specific part of the video and edit it, which is something i have done. I that creating a short video took alot of time putting together because we had to make sure that everything had continuity. We had to take certain clips more than once, because it was not exactly the shot we were looking for. We had to make sure we could talk loud enough so that he camera can pick up our voices.

Preliminary Task

Boy walks into the study centre, there is a close up shot of him opening the door. There is than a shot of him walking through the door and than sitting down. there is a close up shot of him and another boy shaking hands. 180 degree rule of them talking about their exams.