Media Evaluation - Question Eight

For my evaluation from the cinema, I have uploaded some short video clips that show the audience response from our films. Also I have created a word cloud of audience response.

Overall I am very happy with the way that all of our work has come out and finished. I think that it looks very professional and i am truly happy with my groups work.

Media Evaluation - Lauren's Response

Lauren's response to our Media Thriller Opening..

Media Evaluation - Farhana's Response

Farhana's response to our media thriller opening...

Evaluation

Questions 3 & 4

'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How will you attract/address your audience?'

We feel our film would deserve a rather mainstream release, similar to the release of star trek, and also a worldwide release. For example, the premier of the film would be hosted at Leicester square, complete with red carpets ands appearances of many well known actors/actresses.

The film itself will be released digitally in order to help prevent piracy which would eventually lead to it being leaked into countries before they have been officially released. However it would not be released via IMAX, as it would not be expected to do as well as other blockbuster hits such as 'Avatar'.

As with other blockbusters, promotion would be very important in order to make sure that as many people go to see the film as possible, and to ensure that the film is well received by the audience.

The internet would also be a very important factor when it comes to our movies release, especially when attempting to get the attention of a younger audience, who will be more likely to see our film. For example, Star Trek's online promotion was fantastic, targeting all audiences whether it was on social networking websites or a website for a womens gossip magazine.

The trailer for our film would be shown via the internet and on tv as an advert, however when it comes to the tv adverts, it would most likely be shown after 9, considering it is a psychological thriller film.

In terms of newspaper advertising, we thought that The Sun would be the best to use, considering it is the most popular newspaper in Britain.

Evaluation

Question Five

'Who would be the audience for your media product?'

This is Josh, he is 22 years old studying english literature at Middlesex University. He also works part time in Tinseltown as a waiter. As a person, Josh is very outgoing and is generally a very happy person and very sociable, he can always be found hanging around with his friends whom he met at the football club where he regularly plays. He also loves going to the cinema to watch thrillers, although he generally likes all kinds of films. He loves indie music and always has his headphones in, showing he enjoys it largely.

Evaluation

Question Seven

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

Before the start of our preliminary task, in terms of planning, we didn't really take much into consideration. At the time it was merely about getting the task finished. However for the final task, we took a while to plan out exactly what we were gonna do & how we would accomplish it. Below is an Over-the-shoulder shot, we used this shot in both our prelim task and

For example, for the preliminary task, we drew up a quick storyboard from beginning to end and it pretty much gave us a rough idea of the things we had aimed to accomplish for the task. We had the basics involved such as camera work and shot types, and we also knew what type of editing we intended to implement. Considering at the time we had not yet been introduced to Soundtrack pro & livetype, the preliminary task turned out to be rather simple.

For our final task however, we were much more equipped in terms of technical knowledge, therefore several factors of it turned out to be much more in depth.

When we were planning our final piece, it took a bit longer than it did for our preliminary task, & considering we had two sets of planning to do (our first idea didn't go to plan so we had to start another one from scratch.)

Although again, our planning was a storyboard, we had thought about other things such as MES and sound programs.

Media Evaluation - Question Seven

When i first started the AS Level course i wasn't as well equipped to make a film as i feel i am now. I have developed many techniques which i have learnt from both members in my group and my tutors.

For our thriller opening sequence our group made sure that we used as many shot types as possible. We used a variety of shot types which we learn in our Pre Lim match cut exercise.

This is an Over the Shoulder shot example from our PreLim.

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We then copied and used this in our final idea...

We made sure that we understood all of the required shot types that could be used in our work so that we could make the most effective amount of time.

To plan we made a storyboard that can be seen in a previous blog. We each took turns in giving and expressing our ideas to Alison, who drew the storyboard for our group. We took into account each others ideas so that everyone had some input to the planning stage. We also had group discussions of what we were going to film before we actually went out to film. Making sure that the camera worked before we went out, we would then go and film our ideas. Personally, even though all my group members may not back me on this, i believe that we needed much more planning time. Our first idea went down the drain when we haven't heard back from Transport for London so we had to quickly change our ideas. I think that we planned well, but we should of planned more in advance incase we actually did have problems with our locations, which we ended up having.

Personally i feel that i could of learnt more from the soundtrack Pro software. Both me, Glenn and Alison in our group took a back seat to allow Jack to concentrate on the sound as he was the most confident to do this on his own. However, some lessons when he wasn't in, me, Alison and Glenn both carefully mastered the final piece, and when it came to the deadline, both me and Jack stayed later to make sure it got finished while Alison worked on the titles on Live Type.

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Sound Track Software used for our sound editing

When we was filming our PreLim we had a serious problems with the sound on our piece. This got so bad that we had to put subtitles on our piece. We found out later on that we hadn't done our pre-filming checks correctly and the mic was actually switched to the off position. We learnt from our mistake, and when it came to the actual filming, we carefully checked every part of the camera to make sure it was in working order, as well as filming a few seconds to make sure everything was in working order on our JVC PRO HD Cameras.

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The JVC PRO HD Cameras we used to film our final piece on.

For the editing we all had a strong input on this using Final Cut Pro.

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As Jack knew a lot about this software, he taught us how to do all the processes that would be needed to make our film. We all learnt how to make fades and add extra video from our HD Cameras. Unfortunately Jack had to leave our group for personal issues just after our final edit, so we all took over to make the rest of the film. I took responsibility to make our answer to Question Six on our Media Evaluation. The day before the cinema screening of our media films, we had problems with our film which we resolved just in time for the final cut deadline. We watched our films at the Screen on the Green, as seen below.

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To be honest, we didn't pay too much interest M.E.S which happened to be largely ignored. However, we were lucky that it all turned out all good in the end. I think that we should have planned this more carefully, and in A2 we will definitely make sure this is higher on our list!

Evaluation.

Question 7

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

When i think of our Preliminary match-cut task it almost makes me burst out laughing when I recall all the mishaps of the task. In fact, we were so inexperienced with the cameras we somehow managed to mute all sound and had to use subtitles, quite embarrassing when it was played to the entire class, all of whom had sound as a feature in their footage. However, creating the subtitles gave us a head start on the whole title sequence side of our coursework module as we had used Livetype already and even knew how to create titles within Final Cut.

Well, in our final piece we were very careful to check the sound thoroughly ensuring we didn't make the same mistake twice! We were also more adventurous with camera shots in our final piece then we had been previously, but perhaps the reason being for that is the issue with time as our final piece is two minutes and our prelim more along the lines of thirty seconds.

The main difference between our before and after tasks, is the planning behind them, the planning was stronger for our final and it was also better thought out, and was a whole group effort as opposed to one contribution and some nodding and agreement (whether the opinion was trusted or not). Also, being our final piece, the editing is more evident, and the film has a more professional touch than the match-cut preliminary clip, but also, the Livetype experience paid off for us in the end because the improvement on the titles is dramatic.

Also, the composition of camera angles and utilising the available space has improved with practice and time, as i am sure that we covered a much vaster filming sight than beforehand with one table, three people and a tripod on swivel. We gave up on the close-ups and thousands of mid-shots we had previously adopted and used more wide angled shots and long shots allowing the audience to get the full impact of the space, this was deliberate to highlight her isolation and being alone.

Evaluation.

Questions Three and Four

'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? And how will this attract/address your audience?'

We feel that our film would receive a very mainstream release, and as in the case of Star Trek, a very global release too. The style of our release includes the fact that it will be a very wide scale release, it will have a Red Carpet Premiere at Leicester Square including paparazzi and A-list Celebrities.

The Format for the movie itself will be Digital as this format is the most advanced incombatting movie piracy as the release dates across the globe are almost simultaneous and if not they are only a day or two apart, this makes it harder for those who want to illegally want to watch our movie. However i personally feel that our movie wouldn't benefit from a Imax 3D release as it would have to be Exceptional to live up to Avatar and Alice and Wonderland, both of which were a hit in the cinema, however Clash of the Titans is apparently not living up to the exceptionally high bar which Avatar and Alice and Wonderland have set.

Because we feel our movie would be a Blockbuster, we understand that Marketing is extremely important for filling the seats in the cinemas up and down the country and across the globe.

Of course, the Internet is an ever growing and ever changing recourse, especially amongst younger people in society, an online marketing campaign would be extremely beneficial in launching our movie. Star Trek had a phenomenal online marketing scheme including adverts on the Sky News website, Youtube, social networking website Facebook and the ITV web page. They also launched their own website, which was very cool which included Movie Trailers and Spoilers.

We would also put our Trailer on our website and on Television in between channels, we feel that our movie, seeing as it is a Psychological thriller, would probably be advertised on prime time television, perhaps after Nine PM as our movie is creepy.

With regards to advertising In Print, we thought that perhaps newspaper The Sun as it is the most popular newspaper in Britain. But also the Metro, Daily Star ect. TV magazines would also be good to advertise in however we don't think our movie is appropriate for women centered magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Grazia ect.

With regards to our out of house (OOH) advertisements, billboards and bus shelter advertisements are probably our safest bet, however, if this was a real media product, a majority of our budget would have been saved for marketing so we would have posters on the underground also and also we would offer educational poster packs (such like the mese en scene poster offered by Star Trek for colleges) with the hope of attracting college students to watch our movie.

Evaluation.

Question One

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

When we planned our product, we decided as a group that we would use and develop the conventions of media products within the same genre as opposed to challenging these conventions.

We set about creating our title sequence with our main aim to create suspense and tension, we felt the best way to do this was using our soundtrack to establish a serious tone as apposed to a lighthearted one, one you might typically find in a romantic comedy.

We understand that conventionally, the title sequence for any film establishes a tone, feeling and pace, of which is applied throughout the rest of the movie. (i.e. What Lies Beneath uses the calamity of the water to lull the viewer in to a false sense of security before allowing the female in the bath to pop up and shock the audience. This sets a tone and formula in which the rest of the movie follows). We feel our title sequence sets a pace and tone with our soundtrack and slow, dreamlike pace.

Usually, the title sequence introduces a character to the audience, though admittedly, many of the more effective thrillers do not use a character but establish a setting or use strange objects i.e. dolls to set a tone. We introduced our female lead and also a strange male character and gives the viewer a rough idea of what the movie is going to be about.

Another classic convention of a thriller is Leaving the audience inquisitive and eager to watch on. This element was key to include as we thought of our product as the hook which needed a bite from our viewers so we could reel them in. Our product had the audience thinking: 'Who is this Girl?', 'Who is she telling her dreams to?', 'What awaits her at home?'.

Media Evaluation - Question Six

Question Six of our Media Evaluation - A video explaining what we have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing our final piece of coursework.

Media Evaluation - Question Five

Question 5

This is Jacob.

Jacob is a 21 year old Male who works full time in a retail store in London’s West End. He enjoys going out with friends and meeting new people along the way; usually intoxicated in alcohol. He enjoys watching movies and listening to music as well as seeing live bands in his local pub. He regularly visits ‘Vue’ in Leicester Square to see the latest films as well as some odd ones that are still in circulation. He usually goes with his girlfriend, Jasmine who he met at work. He is always listening to his iPod and watches some films on there on his way to and from work. He is a perfect example of our intended audience as he fits all the criteria we were looking to fill.

Media Evaluation - Question Three and Four

Question Three and Four

After a group discussion of what kind of media institution might distribute our media product we came to a decision that we would want a large, mainstream release much like that of Star Trek being a simultaneous worldwide release. We would push for a ‘red carpet’ style release in London’s West End alongside other big blockbusters.

Our movie is very much likely to be released in a Digital format which will mean we can send our film on hard drives to the cinema’s which will be both cost effective and quick. As we feel strongly about Copyright and piracy, we feel a worldwide release would combat the amount of people filming in the back of the cinemas and selling it in countries which the film has yet to be released in.

We have also discussed the possibility of releasing a 3D version a couple of weeks after the general release to allow Imax cinemas to show the film as well therefore increasing our profit.

As well as releasing it, the power of the internet has become ever increasly popular. Like Star Trek releasing various other products related to the film, we feel we could benefit from this too. We could release a solo mobile phone with our branding on as well as posters, toys and other various items of merchandise.


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The trailer for our film could also be released online on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as having adverts on Ebay and Google. We would target the largest sites on the internet for our tailers however this would cost a lot of money to advertise on. We would possibly make this money back after the film has been released, but our budget wouldn’t be incredibly high. We could also release adverts in newspapers and magazines to build up our viewing audience.

Media Evaluation - Question Two

Question Two

Our media represents particular social groups in different ways as well. However, in the beginning of our film, or the two minutes that were screened on the cinema didn’t represent many. Although we see a girl, a teenage girl; on her own which can go along the lines of the stereotypical venerable female. The two teenagers shown in the beginning of the film were a normal, white average class person which makes it difficult for us to put them into specific classes.

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Media Evaluation - Question One

Question One

My media product uses and develops forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. A strong example of how we have successfully used this is with out personally created soundtrack. Our setting starts off as being simple but effective with a low amount of sound in the background. Using Soundtrack Pro we carefully mastered the settings of the volume within the piece to create the desired amount of levels. We discussed this as a group and came to the conclusion that this was successfully used as it would have been in a cinema hit psychological thriller.

We feel that as we edited the actual visual part of the film on Final Cut, using special effects, we correctly captured the right amount of levels. As we felt that it wasn’t exactly the easiest film opening to understand, we decided to add a voiceover into it to allow the watching audience to understand what was going on.

With careful regards to lighting, we used a special filter on Final Cut to allow the levels of light that would be projected onto the screen in the cinema, to be of a high state which we believe fitted the beginning of a psychological thriller. Although when we initially think of a thriller, we could think that it could be dark and eerie, but we wanted to try and challenge the forms of conventual media, we thought we would open up the light, as if it was part of a dream, which was our initial idea.

As with many thriller opening sequences, we found that we would place titles around the moving image but have some parts with a black background so the audience would have a chance to try and take in what they had just seen on the screen. We believe as a group, but it created suspense and tension while the audience watched it and to add fact that they would want to watch the rest of the film.

We introduced two main characters into the film; one of them having considerably more screen time than the other. We didn’t want to reveal too much throughout the opening sequence as we wanted the film to tell a story. As the voiceover fades out, we would want to action to start on screen to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

In conclusion, as a group we believe that our film successfully captured and developed forms of conventual media products along the lines that the audience would be entertained.

Evaluation Part Two.

Question Five

'Who would be the target audience for your media product?'

This is Kyle.

Kyle is 23 years old, he attends a inner city London University studying Psychology and works in Topman part time to make ends meet. Kyle enjoys socializing in bars and clubs with friends from University and Work, he also enjoys trips to the west end and to the cinema. His favourite cinema is the Odeon in Shaftsbury Avenue as it is close to his home and workplace. He likes watching movies that are less obvious and get him thinking, he loves movies and regularly attends cinema to watch new movies. His favourite genres include Action, Psychological Thrillers and Horrors but he also takes his girlfriend Heidi to the cinema to see Rom-Com's. Kyle enjoys indie music and his most played song on his i-pod is The Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum. His favourite item of clothing is a cardigan from Topman which his mate bought him for his birthday.

Media Pitch Problems!

Due to technical issues, we have had problems trying to put our media pitch onto Blogger. Both the Head of Media at our college and our Media Technicians were unable to solve these problems, so we will submit our pitch on a DVD instead.

Evaluation.

Question Two

'How does Your media represent a particular social group?'

In a reflective perspective to this question, our actors are both white and stereotypically classless in apparel however we do represent the 'vulnerable female' character, traveling alone, looking worried. The female is shown as being vulnerable due to the fact she is alone, in a seemingly isolated place, seemingly looking for something. However when she runs into the strange man from the bush, she runs away; a very stereotypical portrayal of the frightened female character. The audience may interpret her actions as foolish, and her attempt at running away as childlike reflecting her youthful innocence.

(left to right) Character: Anna Rydell - 'The Uninvited' 2009, Character: Alison Johns - 'Inbetween' 2010.

Evaluation (Forms & Conventions)

Question One

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

Our media product uses forms and conventions of real media products in various ways. An example of this is when it comes to sound, where we have a quiet soundtrack in order to set the tone for the following scenes, which would be a typical, serious, psychological thriller. This fits in well because a more light hearted soundtrack would not match the type of movie that we were attempting to produce. The aim of the soundtrack was to create a feeling of suspense as the audience view the movie. There was also a voice over, explaining part of the plot in order to help the audience understand some of what is going on.

The lighting in the film was somewhat bright, the aim of this was to disorientate the audience, as is the purpose of most psychological thrillers. If we had used a darker lighting setting, it would not have fitted well as our movie portrays a dream, which are often shown in media as bright and confusing.

The title sequences in our film were dark and slow, the purpose of this is to create suspense and tension as the audience wait for what happens next and the font was a dark colour, in order to further establish the tone, feeling and pace of the following movie.

During the title sequence we are introduced to a character, instantly posing a question into the minds of the viewers, for example 'Who is she? Where is she going?' and as our film does not reveal too much, the audience are still in suspense towards the end of the film as the character reaches a door and the voice over fades out.

Question Two

'How does your media represent particular social groups?'

In our film, there is not much representation of specific social groups as the only characters seen in the film are average, white teenagers. This means they cannot be placed in social groups such as emo, urban etc. For example in the film, 'Kidulthood', all the characters can be placed into the 'urban' social group.

However the character seen on screen is a female, which in turn could be used to portray the 'scared female' image, as she is seen to be frightened and running away.

Evaluation.

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