The Finished Film

The Finished Media Product

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 7

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

On October 1st 2012 me and my media group conducted our first ever practical. We where put into small groups of three's or four's and where told my our teacher to go out and film and attempt to capture on camera some of the shots we had previously discussed in lesson. This included shots such as mid shot, long shot, close shot, pan and tilt.

This shot on the left, was an attempt at a long shot. I was the camera man and decided to tell Adeseye to stand away and walk into the camera as it is a common technique used in filming. On reflection I can see that it is not as good as I first thought, but the good thing is that we used a long shot in our finished media product. As you can see in the bottom picture, you can see that the long shot in the finished media product is better utilised. In the first practical obviously taking into consideration that this was the first ever chance we had to use the camera, I believe that there was no real effect of using the long shot of Adeseye walking in towards the camera, it was done because we felt that it was needed but it was not carefully thought through. However, when it mattered in the real finished product, we successfully used a long shot in order to give the viewers a good knowledge of the landscape. The bottom picture shows that we have progressed very well.

The shot on the left shows a zoom technique. I was filming our first practical and I decided that for this particular scene, I wanted to use the zoom technique. In this scene, Dylan (the person in the screen shot) is being told some heartbreaking news from Adeseye that a person in their family has died. I decided to use the zoom technique because it emphasises what is on the camera. By me choosing to zoom in on Dylan, it is exaggerating his emotions to the viewers. I strongly believe that this scene was successful in regards to the technique used, I also believe that with more planning it could have been a lot better. Having used the zoom technique in the first practical, I noticed that it is used in many Thrillers effectively and it was definitely a technique that I was going to take into consideration when making my Thriller. When making my Thriller we did not include a zoom and this is because my group members felt as though it was not really needed. However I strongly disagreed with them as I felt that if a zoom technique was used when Sarah dropped her phone, it would have foreshadowed that something mysterious would happen and the phone would have been a part of that.

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 6

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

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

We used many specific devices in attempt to try and capture our target audience. The night setting that I have used in the opening is used to appeal to all ages. The night setting is typically labelled with mischief and troubles. So I have used it to portray that something will happen and I believe that this will appeal to many people as it is common Thriller.

I believe that the audience would continue to watch because of the clever use of the cliff-hanger in my film. The idea of using a cliff-hanger came from watching many Alfred Hitchcock films and it was quite inspiring. Also I watch a lot of soaps such as Eastenders and they commonly use a cliff-hanger on a Friday episode to literally force the viewer to watch the next episode on Monday. I used this idea and put it in my media product to attempt the viewers to continue watch the next one (if there is a next one).

Question 5 - slideshow

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product seems very limited but there are aspects in my media product that I believe are in most Thrillers and this could possibly widen my audience and viewers. The ages I have used are teenagers. I would have liked it to be more general and consist of more ages but in my product the only age that is present is teenagers. This consequently limits my audience, as the elderly are unlikely to watch a Thriller about teenagers. The gender and class are both quite broad. I have not specifically targeted a gender because in the Thrillers I have watched it doesn’t really seem to be very male or very female. However, in regards to class, I do not think the upper class would be entertained by a Thriller made by young students, so I believe it is aimed at middle class and perhaps lower class. I believe that teenagers would watch my media product as it is very modern and enticing. I think the appeal comes from the young characters; it is rare to see a scene of a girl being attacked by boys in a Thriller. It is usually men and women. Before proceeding with my media product, I conducted research with a focus group to attempt to identify what people like in Thrillers and also to see if my idea would be suitable to proceed with. However at the time we did our focus group, we were set to go with an idea that was in a graveyard. Due to miscommunication and the idea looking nearly impossible to film, I came up with a new idea and that is the one we used. I still took into consideration the feedback I was given from my focus group. For example, I decided to start with a night scene which was mentioned in my focus group and also, I tried to emulate an action thriller. From the feedback I was given after the film, it was apparent that the younger age category found it “fast paced” and also they commented on the good use of the cliff-hanger at the end which would make them want to continue to watch the Thriller.



http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6ZHN5HW

From the results obtained, it shows me that 78% of people believe the film is aimed at a young audience which is the audience I aimed it at.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 3

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

A media institution is just a company that sells or offers you media products such as films, posters and articles. There are Film Studio’s that offer media products such as Major, Mini Major and Independent. These are very big Film Studio’s and it is highly unlikely that they will distribute a film made by sixteen year olds from Dagenham, they would look for something that is more likely to appeal to a wider audience because our media product would really only appeal to people within the ages of 9 to 18. However there are other media institutions such as Film 4 and BBC. These are well known institutions that appeal to a wide audience. However, it is still unlikely that these institutions are likely to distribute our film due to the lack of experience present in our group. None of us are really media experts and it would be very unprofessional for them to distribute our film as it may not be to everyone’s standards then the institution itself would be heavily criticised. In regards to our film being distributed, it is likely that a company like YouTube or Twitter may advertise, distribute or even promote my media product, as YouTube holds over 5 million videos.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product depicts teenage stereotypes and also gender and race stereotypes. It represents gender stereotypes at the beginning of the film where Sarah is conveyed as being a dumb female. She dropped her phone and did not even notice and this scene made her look fragile and careless. The stereotype that males are superior to women is also conveyed in my media product. When the Stalker takes the phone, it displays a mans dominance and that he is in full control of the situation whereas the female is naive and weak. This stereotype is used in a lot of films, typically in the 1900s where women where labelled as 'housewives'. Nowadays it has declined in society but it is still indirectly seen in many films. Moreover, another stereotype that was presented in my media film is the stereotype of  black males through myself. This is actually a very common stereotype that displays young black males with criminality and antisocial behaviour. This is seen in my media product when I initially take Sarah's phone and then do something to her. At first because I am a young black male and wearing dark clothes and have my hood up, I am labelled as a thief and also a criminal. By me having my hood up and looking rather dodgy, I'm portraying the typical stereotype of a gangster. I think by having these stereotypes present in the film it makes the product more believable and also more exciting.

Hopefully this mind map will aid your understanding of some of the stereotypes we tried to potray.

http://www.spicynodes.org/oembed/url=http%3A//www.spicynodes.org/db/nodemap/&id=2b349f9d1b6cb4f3865f94257195f98c&nodemapID=438602&width=640&height=360

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1

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

In the Thriller genre of film, it is evident that there are key conventions that make a Thriller. In many Thrillers, these conventions are shown and sometimes they are shown in a different way but still have the same purpose. Thrillers commonly include elements such as cliff hangers. A cliff hanger is a plot device used in films to engage the audience by cutting off a part of the film. For example a boy is being chased by a group of men; he wants to cross the road but cannot because of the traffic. What does he do? Does he risk his life in by attempting to cross the road or does he let the men catch him? Cliff hangers are extremely effective as they create the feeling of tension and suspense. The purpose of cliff hangers is to engage the audience and force them to want to continue reading the next series of a book or to continue watching the film to see what happens next. In my media product, we analysed many cliff hangers in Thrillers and found that it was highly common and also very effective as we all agreed that we would continue to watch the film because of the cliff hanger. This gave my group and I confidence that we could utilise a cliff hanger in our own product. In our product we used a cliff hanger at the end, we did this because when analysing Thrillers, we found that most cliff hangers came towards the end of the film and the end of chapters in books. I believe that our cliff hanger was very good. We see Sarah entering the house, completely unaware of the danger that she was potentially in. She walks in and the Stalker along with his friend grabbed her and we hear Sarah scream. This is very effective as we do not know what The Stalker and his ally did with Sarah but the audience should be eager to find out. We did not develop the use of the cliff hanger as we were not sure how we could take it one step further. In addition, in our own Media product, we used the typically love interest. We were inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock Thriller ‘North by Northwest’, in which Roger Thornhill falls for a dashing blonde haired woman. However we analysed this and changed it slightly. In our own product, The Stalker is actually in love with Sarah but because she cheated on him with the most popular boy in school, he does not know how to react as he has mental problems. The only way he wants to get revenge is to set out and kill Sarah. This shows in our product that we have looked into the idea of love interests in thrillers and have adapted it to our own. On reflection it may not be evident that the Stalker is actually Sarah’s boyfriend as we did not make it clear to the audience. In thrillers, you will often see fast paced action and cut scenes because Thrillers are about excitement and drive. The fast paced cuts make it seem as though the Thriller is moving at an incredibly high speed. This is very common in many Thrillers, particularly in chase scenes. In our own Media product, we tried to emulate the idea of fast paced cuts. However it was very hard as if we had used fast paced cuts the audience might not have seen the full surroundings. We did however use really fast cuts in the part where Sarah enters the Stalker’s house. There are many different angles and it was me who cut them up and placed them together because after looking into many Thrillers, I realised the fast paced action present in nearly all of them. The fast paced action does not have to be throughout the film but it just makes the film incredibly entertaining if it is present in one part of the film whether it is a chase scene or just a casual scene.

Doing The Voice Over

The Voice Over

In our film, we realised there was a problem. When the Stalker found Sarah's phone, he then offered her to pick it up in 20 minutes. So this would be sometime in the evening later, but because we had filmed all the scenes needed for that day we stopped. So the next day we continued to film and obviously it was a new day so when we filmed it, it was day time rather than night time when the stalker said 20 minutes. This was a problem because it then looked very unrealistic and just didn't work. Fortunately we where able to modify this and re record my part again using the application Final Cut Express on the Apple Mac. I recorded myself saying "come over to 24 Oxlow Lane" and then inserted the voice recording over the error and this is how we where able to overcome this problem.

The Second Day of Filming

Day 2 of Filming

The second day of filming was very strange and I will explain why. This day happened to be a school day and it was a Thursday and we had almost a 2 hour break before our media lesson so we decided to take advantage of this and film. We all met up at my house again because this is where we filmed before and we continued on from where we had left off. So to continue we filmed Sarah actually entering the Stalker's house with the door wide open. She was curious and decided to walk through the house because this was the address that the Stalker gave her. She walked through the house saying "hello" and is then taken by the Stalker and his friend. Now the reason I said this was strange is because this was supposed to be the part where the film starts to get interesting. Unfortunately the rest of what we filmed had poor handling of the camera and we where ultimately forced to cut our film short so we couldn't see what happened to Sarah after she was captured. Nevertheless, the product still looks good even though in reality it was not finished.

The First Day of Filming

Day 1 of Filming

Today we filmed the first part to our Thriller. We met up at my house as it was the ideal location for my group to meet as no one had to really travel far. It was very exciting to be able to get straight in to making our thriller. The first scene we did was just on my road and this is the scene where Sarah drops her phone. We did this scene three or four times because we wanted to get a variety of shots. We had to film quickly because we met up around 5:30pm and it was getting rapidly dark. As Sarah walked down the road we took lots of different shots and angles such as a P.O.V but we decided not to use it because the audience would not be able to see that Sarah drpped the phone. We also took a shot of the camera that was directly behind her, in front of her and above her so that the camera was looking down. Perhaps if we had used the shot of the camera looking down on her, it might have been more effective because when the camera is looking down on someone, it puts them in a position of inferiority and this could perhaps foreshadow that something bas might happn to her. After shooting this scene numerous times till we got it nearly to perfection we then progressed to my scene where I am the Stalker and I will be picking up Sarah's phone that she dropped. For this scene I was not sure what type of shot we could use for this scene. I was rather reluctant to use the same shots that we used for Sarah's scene where she drops the phone but having taken many differents shots and angles, I thought that that was the only appropriate shot I could have used. However having reflected and watched the film many times, I can see that a shot from behind me wouild have worked really well. By not seeing my face when I pick up Sarah's phone it creates a sense of ambiguity and a mysterious feel to the film. Then we had finished the scene and moved on into the scenes inside the house. The first scene in the house was the one where I called Sarah and offered for her to pick up her phone from my house. These scenes where done using the close shot. When we did this scene of our conversation, a problem occured. I said to Sarah 'meet me at oxlow lane in like 20 minutes' however after doing that scene Sarah had to go home because it was getting late. Our group did not realise that it was late so when I told her to meet me in 20 minutes we did not change this so when it came to editing the film on Final Cut Express we had to somehow change this and this is how we made the voice over.

The Stalker Trial

The Stalker Trial

This was a quick test run of how the shots we did looked, by doing this we where able to pick out and see the best shots and the ones that where perhaps unsuccessful. We took a variety of shots and angles as you can see below.

Mood Board

Mood Board

Here is our Mood Board for our Thriller 'The Stalker'. This Mood Board should help you understand the type of Thriller we are going for and what will be in it.

Order Of Title Sequence

Order of the Title Sequence

After the IDENT use a FADE IN. The titles should then be in the following order:

(1) 'Your Production Company' Presents

(2) A Film by 'One name - usually the director'

(3) Starring or With

(4) Male star

(5) Female star or other way round

(6) Title of film - or could be at the end

(7) Also starring - 2/3/names - each on seperate title

(8) Then 3/4/5 of the following - you choose - each on seperate title

Editing

Music

Cinematography or Director of Photography

Casting

Set Designer

Costume Designer

Script

(9) Then Producer(s) - can be more than one

(10) Always finish with Director - one name, usually the same as A Film By ...

(11) Could put title here

Remember to use LiveType and try to make titles interesting. They can be either over black or superimposed over your film. Space them out over the two minutes of the film.Give the audience plenty of time to read the titles. 

(12) Finish with a fade out & fade music out

Title Sequence

Title Sequence

In order to make a good title sequence, I have analysed the opening title sequence to the recent film Skyfall. I decided to analyse Skyfall because it is quite modern and very popular so I strongly believe that I can take inspiration from it. As the title sequence begins, its not very typical. It begins with a man falling in the sky which relates back to the name of the film, this is effective as it reiterates to the viewers what they are watching. The screen then goes to black and a hand is grabbed and the first title appears of the director. It then reveals the name everyone wants to see, the famous Daniel Craig. The man that is one of the greatest and well known British actors in the world. By having him in the film, it automatically brings in his fan base which increases the people who watch the film  I noticed that his name came up before the actual name of the film 'Skyfall' and this may be because he is very well known and and takes the lead in the film. The title sequence is very still and almost surreal, it seems as though not a lot is going on which consequently causes us to focus more. It's very dark and Gothic which builds up tension. The music in the background is from Grammy award winner Adele. To have Adele singing 'skyfall' in the background also brings in her fan base which is millions so this is how the film attracts it's audience. The font of the names are rather ordinary but it is what is happening in the sequence that is really captivating. 

Our Own Studio Ident

Our Studio Ident

 

Today in my media lesson, we made our own Studio Ident for our film. We made a studio ident for our thriller that we are going to film. A Studio Ident is necessary as it adds originality to films. In process of making the Ident, we went on Final Cut Express, Sarah and I took a picture from the internet of the London Skyline, this is good as London is a very big and popular city, so this gives our Ident respect and significance. We did this because after all the Idents we looked at we could see that most of them show significance and power. For example if you look at Universal Studios, it's Ident consists of the globe, showing power so we took inspiration from this. We then imported the picture onto Final Cut and added all of our initials and here is the end product:

Cast & Crew

Cast and Crew

Sarah Mboso, 17, Chingford

Sarah plays Sarah in 'The Stalker'

She plays an innocent young girl walking through a dark street in fear, and manages to drop her phone without noticing. Unfortunately, she is the stalker's best link to his ex girlfriend.

Akua Ntiamoah, 17, Dagenham 

Akua plays Akua in 'The Staker'

She plays the girl who recently cheated on the stalker and is about to be his first main victim.

Nicholas Ahorituwere, 16, Dagenham

Nicholas plays The Stalker

He is a mysterious character who seems to have mental issues, especially when it comes to betrayal. He has set out to destroy his ex girlfriend, Akua, who recently cheated on him.

Seye Adebowale, 16, Barking

Seye plays Shezz

He plays Akua's new boyfriend. He is a possible target for 'The Stalker', as he was the person that Akua's was caught cheating on the stalker with. 

Dapo Awofolu, 16, Dagenham

Dapo is our top camera man. He is the one who gets all the good shots in any of our filming tasks. 

Studio Idents

Studio Idents

From the images, you can see the Studio Idents. All the idents use powerful images to show their superiority. Universal use 'the world' to show how powerful they are. Columbia use 'a statue' to show power and Walt Disney use a castle. In my media project, we will need a Studio Ident. We will be original and create one. We will demonstrate power with the Ident.

Here we have Universal Studios. It is one of the six major movie studios. It is one of the longest-lived motion picture studios to be located outside of Hollywood. The universal logo represents their superiority as the main focus is the world globe. 

Here we have Columbia, again it is one of the top movie Studios. The studio was founded in 1918. Columbia began to grow in the late 1920s, because of a successful association with director Frank Capra. The logo shows a statue and it almost links to the statue of liberty, so it displays power.

Here we have Walt Disney. The logo has a castle in it because it is aimed at the younger generation. Ther castle appeals to younger people as it is very fairytale like but at the same time, castles are very big and this is how it displays its dominance.

Here we have Warner Brothers. Their logo is in clouds, showing they're the highest and the writing in gold shows royalty and that there company is the highest. It also is shown with a shield showing their defence but also power.

What My Thriller Should Consist Of

What My Thriller Should Consist Of

In thrillers, gender, age, ethnicity and class are used to represent different things. They are looked in to closely and manipulated to the preference of the director. It is purposely done in a way of communicating social matters and other matters to the audience. I made this spider diagram from Spicynodes to try and help you understand the key concepts that come up in my media product that are important and that I have also seen in other Thrillers. The dark scenery is common at different stages in Thriller, it is seen a lot in horror Thrillers and I believe it was necessary as the dark scenery would perhaps suggest that something bad is imminent to happen. The young pretty girl is often deployed in Thrillers, often as a distraction or a sidekick to aid the man on his mission or even both as it is seen in North by Northwest as Roger Thornhill meets a dashing young blonde woman. The stereotypical black boy is not often seen in Thrillers but is now seen in more modernised Thrillers, stereotyping black boys to be criminals or a menace to society. The love interest is also present as the stalker is actually in love with Sarah but she cheated on him with a more popular boy in school so he seeks his revenge but because he has mental problems it results to him stalking her. The quick edited scenes are often used in Thrillers  both modern and old. This is a key convention of Thriller's that I took account when making my media product. The suspense is present while Sarah enters the house not knowing the stalker and his companion are there. The cliffhanger is used in many Thriller's I have watched and it is a very useful technique to use, I used it at the end of my media product.

Location Sheet

Production Schedule

Location Visit Sheet

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: The Stalker Writer: Nicholas Producer: Nicholas, Sarah, Dapo, Seye Director: Dapo Date:

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note: Dark Street Somebody’s house Access to location via: Walking Public Transport Name and number of location contact: Nicholas (07960402448) Seye (07887606174)

Health and Safety Issues to note: ·       N/A

Potential Filming Problems: ●      The problems that could occur are miscommunication. In our group we have many people who do active sports such as Rugby and Football and they have a commitment to their team. Also, we have people in our group that go to work so we must make sure that we communicate effectively making sure that everyone knows when and where to meet and start working. It is important so that our work will be completed before the deadline.

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) We will be filming in Dagenham and it is January and there is heavy snow. We need to ensure we have good weather before we film.

RIsk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment Sheet Title: The Stalker Writer: Nicholas Ahoritwere Producer: Dapo Awofolu Director: Dapo Awofolu Date: 05/02/2013

Major Issues: If we film when it’s too dark, we might not be able to see the characters clearly at all.    Filming times are not convenient for everyone in our group.    The weather might not always stay the same. Solutions: We must make sure we film as quickly, yet accurately, as possible. This is to avoid the brightness/darkness changing too much, whilst we film.     Some members in our group have other, important occupations to attend. Therefore, we must find convenient times for all of us to film.     We must always check the weather forecast before we go out to film. Contacts: Nicholas Ahorituwere:  07960 402448 Sarah Mboso: 07415 621588 Dapo Awofolu: 07944 714146 Seye Adebowale: 07887 606174 Emergency services: On Site Services: Local Police:     Dagenham Police Station     Address: 561 Rainham Rd S, Dagenham, Essex RM10 7TU     Phone:020 8984 1212 Local Fire:      Ilford Fire Station      Address: 460 High Rd, Ilford, Greater London IG1 1UE      Phone:020 8555 1200 Local Hospital:     Queen’s Hospital     Address: Rom Valley Way, Romford, Essex RM7 0AG     Phone:01708 435000

Contingency Plan

Contingency Plan

Name: Nicholas, Seye, Sarah, Dapo Production:

Potential problems and how to overcome these problems: The problems that could occur are miscommunication. In our group we have many people who do active sports such as Rugby and Football and they have a commitment to their team. Also, we have people in our group that go to work so we must make sure that we communicate effectively making sure that everyone knows when and where to meet and start working. It is important so that our work will be completed before the deadline.