EVALUATION

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

Title

The title of the film is 'Into The Darkness'. It is typical of most thriller films as it creates mystery but also a sense of danger.

Setting/location

The opening sequence is set in a graveyard which symbolizes death. it also links to the film as the main character has lost a close friend.

Costume and props

As the director, i allowed the characters to wear what they usually wore as their characters were also college students. This makes mise-en-scene more solid. the costumes also show our target audience as young maturing student. In terms of props, the bag shows that shes a student as she had books to carry.

Camerawork and editing

shaky shots are used during the opening to show that the character is an unstable person. Also during editing we merged the overlapped the flashbacks on the opening and made it slightly transparent - so both were playing at the same time. this is to show that the main character is living in the past and that she cant escape from it. Cuts are very fast to show the confused nature of the main characters mind.

Title font and style

The title is in red and is bold to show danger which is typical of thrillers.

Story and how the opening sets it up

The story is about two close friends who get chased into the graveyard one night but one ends up being killed. After this the remaining girl is left alone to face the aftermath of that night. We opened by showing the flashback of the graveyard incident to show that it was in the past and we are now in the present. by doing this we give away bits of information that make the audience want to watch on to 'solve the case'. It is the job of opening sequences to draw the audience in and make them want to watch the rest of the film. I think we executed this very well with our opening.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

The main genre of the film is a thriller. The opening suggests it by creating danger and anticipation from the get go. this is created by the use of flashbacks of running from something in the graveyard. The fast cuts also show confusion and leads the audience to believe that all is not as it seems as thrillers should do.

How characters are introduced

The main character is introduced straight after the titles to show that she is the main focus of the film. She is shown alone and walking down the path to the graveyard. once again the flashbacks show that she is living in the past and needs help to escape from it.

The second main character is introduced using a long shot, this shows that she is now distanced from the main character when they previously used to be close.

In most opening sequences, the main character is introduced first so the audience can familiarize themselves with him/her/it.

Special effects

The main special effect used was the flashback being overlapped present time.

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

My media project represents young people who are often left alone to deal with serious situations because they are scared to tell anyone or ask for help. It shows the struggle they go through by trying to cope with it themselves and how it causes them to breakdown slowly.

The first girl above is the character Wendy from final destination 3 and the girl below her is Sitare from our film.

Similarities - Both girls are students and the bags highlight this. They have both lost someone close to them and are suffering because of this. In Wendy's case, it is her boyfriend while in Sitare's case it is her best friend. Both use mid shots to show the characters closely in terms of facial expressions as well as costumes. Both look unhappy as if something is on their mind. Wendy's picture is more dramatic as it is raining in it. The pathetic phallacy used shows that she is sad and crying inside. They are both pictured alone to show that they have been cut off from the rest of the world as no one believes them.

The are both also main characters in their films.

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

Who would be the audience for your media product ?

My target audience is young people between the ages of 18-25, mainly girls that enjoy thrillers and psychological films. They would watch the film because they can relate to it as it is also about a young adults and deals with some of the issues they can face in life in a dramatic way.

How did you attract/address your audience ?

We attracted our audience by making the main character their age group. This was to make them interested as they see the film is about someone like themselves.

We also know young people like films that are true to real life as they can relate to it.

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

I learnt how to use a professional camera first of all. Its not like a home camcorder where you press record and go. You have to adjust the lighting and sound etc. I also learnt to use an editing program - final cut pro. Also when using the camera with or without a tripod, you have to keep it still, so you don't film shaky scenes. A tripod to supposed to help reduce the shaking, but i found that with sharp of fast movements, it still shook sometimes.

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

In the preliminary task, camera shots were shaky, cuts were too sharp, and we even had actors looking at the camera. Personally i think i learnt a lot after the preliminary task which helped the final product become what it is. I learned how to properly use a camera which made the shots clearer. i also learnt about the different shots used in film and practiced them so that when it came to the actual filming, i was able to direct and tell the cameraman exactly what i wanted. i also learnt about continuity and how if you are shooting two separate scene that are in the same time frame then things should be the same. For example in our film there are three location 1) the graveyard 2) college and 3) outside some flats. This was supposed to have happened in the afternoon so we had to make sure the characters wore the same costumes and that the lighting was the same.

Overall i think i had learnt a lot with the making of our opening of a film and it was this project that led me to change my career prospect to one of a film director rather than a laywer.

Audience types

Mainstream - This is a large audience that watch or listen to one thing. It is calculated by ratings or box office. Mainstream films will often have room for sequel or merchandise. Audiences are usually drawn to films that are blockbusters. Most mainstream films will be American and main genres will be romance, action and fantasy.

An example of a mainstream film is Titanic, which was the highest grossing film of all time until last year when it was over taken by Avatar. Both were written and directed by James Cameron

Titanic trailer

Cult - A small but loyal following audience of a particular media text.

Cult Film makers will usually have small budget and films will not get major cinema release but will be in specialized cinemas. This means audiences will have to research cult films to find out where its showing as they wouldn't be widely advertised.

An example is 'Cass' which is a British cult film. The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain.

Subversive - This is an audience that watch controversial media texts that could offend

Alternative - Opposite of mainstream. Audience enjoy media texts that are similar to similar to mainstream media texts, but differ in various ways. E.g spoof films are alternative because they are mainstream film but different - comedic.

e.g Scary movie

My personal role

Some changes were made regarding my personal role in the film. I was previously acting in it and helping with the filming, but due to the cameraperson dropping out, it meant I had to take over her responsibilities.
This caused quite a problem for the group as roles had to be switched around.

We found editing fun but tedious. There was so much to do in order to get the output that we wanted.
We used a lot of dissolves to hide messy cuts. I found literally unbearable to keep putting cuts in every few seconds. It made wonder how feature length films are edited and if they use quite a lot of dissolves as well.
As a group music was not really a big issue for us. Due to the changes in the coursework criteria, we could not use copyright music for our films. This immediately meant that most of the music we listen to was basically untouchable. So because of this we did not really pay that much attention on the music and just focused on everything else.
The sound we did use was a typewriter for the title and a piece of moody music for the first flashback. I thought the music worked really well with the scene as it set the mood, but it also highlighted the characters emotions at that point. The music is played at a time when Sitare had just had an argument with her former friend about the death/disappearance of their best friend. Using the music in this showed the audience how Sitare was feeling as she does not have any dialogue in that particular scene.

We created the titles at the very end because we felt we could only do it after watching the film and getting the entire feel of it.

For the final, final film, i ended up directing and writing up a new script while another girl filmed.

Recce

Before we could start filming the actual film we had to do a ‘recce’. This is when you visit the locations of your film and do practice shots to see how it would look. The word 'recce' is a slang term for 'reconnoiter' (the verb form of "reconnaissance").

Recces are very useful as it lets you see how the film might look and if any important changes need to be made.

Location scouting with Billy Fox

We watched a documentary where the director Quentin Tarantino did a recce for a scene in his film ‘Reservoir Dogs’.
During the recce a cinematographer named Billy Fox added and removed props to see which ones fit the scene best. Tarantino then acted out the whole scene filling in for one of the actors so that he could show him exactly how he wanted the scene to be portrayed. after watching the recce, we then watched the same scene from the actual film. We saw that some props used in the recce had been taken out and new ones added, also some of the camera shots had changed to make the scene more clear.

If the reece had not been used, Tarantino would have had to shoot the whole scene again, which would cost more money and take more time. So overall recce's also allow you to save time and money.

My Group Recce

Our group recce was shot in the girls toilets, where i practiced a mirror shot i wanted in the film. This is where you shoot someone in the mirror but you cant see the camera behind it.

The reece was successful as i learnt how to do the shot perfectly, meaning when we came to the actual filming, i would have no problems.

Camera training and introduction to editing

We used a digital Sony A1E HDV camera to film and a Libec tripod TH 950 to steady the camera.

I learnt through John’s training classes. Although I am not really going to be shooting in the film but rather acting in it, I felt that the skills I learned would benefit me greatly. You never know what could happen so I think it was good that we all participated in John’s training classes. He taught us how to use the camera to achieve the best results. For example, he told us it better to zoom out of a close up rather than zoom in and showed us how. I fou

nd this very interesting because for a horror you don’t really want things to be obvious at the start, so I think showing a close up of something will draw the audience in as they immediately start questioning what it is. Then zooming out and showing them will also catch them by surprise especially if it is something horrific.

FINAL CUT PRO 7

Another one of John’s lessons I enjoyed was showing us how to use final cut. Final cut pro 7 is an editing program thats lets you create a film by bringing all footage together.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/

I was really fascinated by the different effects you could do with the program such as using a green screen and it gave me good ideas for when we would edit the film in the near future.

Overall I think John’s classes were really helpful as they gave us valuable knowledge on how to use the cameras. They were very enjoyable and the skills learnt could also be used outside of class.

Script writing and analysis

A film script is the blueprint for the visual telling of a story.

When writing a script you must use Courier font size 12 - it's the industry standard and easy to read. It also helps reader's to gauge the length of your script. Never use italics, bold or any kind of fancy formatting.

Slug line

Scenes are always preceded by a slug line that tells whether the scene is inside or outside, the location, and whether it is day or night.
INT. DIANA’S APARTMENT- DAY

Scene Description Lines

The slug line is followed immediately by scene description lines. These tell more about the setting, who is in the scene, and sometimes where they are located and what they are doing. Important instructions are placed here.
Scene instruction lines occur throughout the scene as needed. They often instruct about essential character physical actions.
A character's name has to be in ALL CAPITALS in the scene description lines and the first time the character appears in the script.

Script Analysis

The film script that I am going to analyse is called ‘I Robot’ by ‘Hilary Seitz’. It is an action/ futuristic based film.

The fade in on a deep darkness creates mystery and suspense. The beginning scene is not resolute; therefore a director can make it their own. There are themes which can be shown in any way to produce a reaction. For example the orange and yellow colours of the fire are supposed to create a sense of danger, while the sound of something shattering is supposed to shock the audience and grab their attention.

From the slug line we now know we are in ‘Spooner’s’ apartment. There is a camera direction here and although they are not much appreciated in scripts, I think it fits in here. The close will give us a chance to see ‘Spooner’s’ emotions clearly, especially what he thinks about the dream he just had.

The scene direction here is quite detailed, however because it is written in short sentences it does not seem story like. A lot of verbs are used which makes it easy for an actor/actress to follow.

Overall all I believe the beginning of the script is quite good. It is written in the standard Courier size 12 font making it simple and clear to read. They are no long sentences which again make it uncomplicated and straight forward. I believe it is also open to interpretation allowing the director or actor/actress to perform it how they see fit.