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

7-
Since the initial prelimenary task I feel that I have become much more aware of the micro-elements and the ways in which I use them within my filming.
Particularly The fact that i had to work on my own i did find quite hard but I enjoyed it because the film was alot more orginial and personal.
Mainly it was all self learning and I really enjoyed the fact that it was such independent work.
The preliminary task alowed me to understand camera angles, shots and transitons and without it I think I would have found it alot harder.

At the start of the premlininary task I didnt even have a clue on how to use the camera and it did take a while to understand how to do something such as match on action and i did find it hard to keep the camera in a specific place, if i did use the stand i did tend to shake so overall my camera work has significantly improved  since the prelimenary task. I began to undersand when producing match on action sequences, That I made sure I left significant gaps either side of the footage in order to be able to cut down the clips and refine the continuity. This helped the footage be alot moree accurate flow much better and made it easier for me to edit.

6- What have toy learnt about technologies from the process of constucting this product?

Throughout the project we have been introduced to more technology such as the final cut programme, the Mac computers, the JVC video cameras. You tube uploading, and itunes.

Camera

The JVC camcorders that the school issued us to use for our projects where excellent and I really enjoyed using them I had knowledge of how to use it from the preliminary task, but the fact that it was so simple made it a breeze to use.

I did find it annoying that you had to use a memory card as there was quite a few times I went out to film and completely forgot it, and with there being no internal memory on the camera meant a lot of wasted time and trips. They charged up really quickly to, I found that they were light enough to carry around with ease but produced great quality of footage

Final Cut Express

When final cut was first introduced to me I had absolutely no idea what it was I’ve never really spent very much time on Macs and this whole programme was completely new to me,

I downloaded the Manual of how to operate final cut

And did read through it as much as I could

I also asked friends of mine that had Macs or where familiar with the final cut system

I think It was my downfall it was easy enough to film the film but to actually upload it onto the computer was a challenge in itself it took nearly a week for me to upload cut and rename all my film files and then trying to work out how to categorize them was really hard.

 I had absolutely no knowledge of how to use a Mac and did get extremely frustrated with them.

Whereas other people where confident with using the system of final cut, and were busy editing away. Even completing the simplest tasks like dragging the film onto the lines was a challenge. I lost count of the amount of times that I restarted the film or lost it or deleted it.

With a bit of patience and guidance it did start to stick after a while of me observing how other people were achieving everything. But my film was very slow to develop.

After all that time, I am now pretty confident with using Final Cut I’m definitely not an expert and would be useless to help anybody but I have managed to complete my film in the end.

5- How did you attract/address your audience?

Firstly, I ensured that I knew who my target audience was. Then, I thought about the different issues that would interest them. Looking back on it now I wish I did something like a quiz as I think it would give a more accurate insight to what attracts people to the particular genre that I have chosen

I used protagonists similar in age to my preferred audience, ensuring that the film is easier to relate to, and therefore it would be more enjoyable to for the audience to watch.

Through Genre

I thought that a physiological thriller would attract my audience as it something that you can just watch you don’t have to be in specific mood to watch it. I think psychological thrillers can be quite addictive and I am aiming it at and age range of audience that could appreciate this sort of film

Characters

I wanted to address both the Male and Female at some point both gender will be able to relate to certain situations and by having a characters that could be easily to relate to. There isn’t an age range on the actors as If I were to continuing filming there would be input from actors of all ages but these two are the main ones that we follow which are roughly the same ages as my target audience.

Editing

The editing works quite well in this and it is quite subtle, as I have tried to keep things a natural as possible, to give it more of a realistic effect. I have edited ‘Fred’ to shake his head to Dizzee Rascal- Bonkers. This is quite comical and I wish I paid more attention to detail as I think I could have made it look a lot more successful than what I have now, It is the only music that I have added to the film. The music is cued on and off, Starting as he pulls in under the bridge which is suggesting that he was listening to it on the way down as we follow him but as he is in a tunnel its easier to hear, it is lightly introduced in and then faded out on cue as he shuts the door of his truck

Props

By using the gas mask I found that I was quite unique and attractive, the stereotypical use of weapons are always intriguing for a viewer

Location

I think it’s the location that makes it most attractive, as it is in a really secluded unique spot, it a place that is realistic as it is real but it shows that it could be anyway. My location was extremely important so I achieve the look that I wanted for my film. The fact that the bunker is used makes it really unique.

4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

4.

The main audience for my Media product would be adults around the age region of 18+ I would suggest a certificate 18 more so if I were to continue the rest of the film, because it would include violence and strong language and substance abuse which would definitely not be suitable for younger viewers even with possible parental guidance.

Sex & Nudity

It isn’t the main focus of my film, as I want it to reflect the more complicated preparations and perforations of a killer, though there would be some nudity shown if I were to carry on with filming this, but in the first 2 minutes of the opening in the film there is no Sex or Nudity.

Violence & Gore

Not so much of gore, but there would be a lot of violence which some viewers could possibly find distressing, The violence would be my main focus so therefore it would defiantly not be appealing or responsible for a younger audience.

Profanity

There is a lot of strong language in the film not so much in then opening as I haven’t focused on any dialect within the opening 2 minute but it definitely would not be suitable for the younger audience if the filming was continued.

 

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking

There would be a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, which some people could possibly find distressing.

Frightening/Intense Scenes

There are a lot of intense scenes in the film even in the opening 2 minutes some of the shots suggest this. Not particularly frightening but as it is a thriller there is a lot of suspense.

Gender

My film doesn’t have a particular desire of gender. The film I hope is appealing to both, perhaps the male more so, I have included both male and female actors to make it more balanced and parts of my film reflects some stereotypical elements which the audience could relate to, but as it is physiological thriller it should be entertaining to both male and female.

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

3.

As my media product is film based, a media institution that may distribute my film would be a film production company.

They would be in control of creation and progression with the production of my film this involves filming and editing of the film. As I have focused on Psychological thriller for the genre a production company that has experience and is well known for producing films relating to that particular genre would be most successful, for example

Optimum releasing is a successful film distributor company working in the UK. The company releases many films, but is best known for its Anime releases and foreign language films.

They release over 200 films a year and are one of the most prominent distributors in the UK.

Optimum Releasing produced Dead Mans Shoes which one of the big influences to my inspiration to my film it was by watching that I decided that I would produce a psychological thriller as that is what Dead Mans Shoes genre is classified as.

Another possible media institution would be a television broadcaster If my film could be shown on TV. It would allow are far larger variety of audience to view it.

This allows people to watch my film in the comfort of their own home, no expense spared as if it was on the movie channels say on Virgin Media it would be an option to view. It could also be shown on a public service broadcaster such as Channel 4, It wouldn’t be so suitable for something like the BBC as it doesn’t often show films, which are as violent and influential as mine. Channel 4 on the other hand allows most things after the watershed time, and my target audience are popular viewers of later night Channel 4.

It being a viewable options on the TV is a lot more convenient for the audience, and due to convergence of other technologies it would also be accessible online on sites such as You tube and Vimeo. This would allow Internet surfers to be able to access the film. In association to my media product, they could be used in advertising the film across to a wider audience, which would promote it. By it being distributed on the internet would allow access from other platforms via Wifi, such as the Xbox and IPods, this ease of access would mean the audience could be anyone

2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product gives representations of particular social groups through the narrative, storyline and actors

This is typical representation of a man in the Thriller genre and in most genres. There is an ideology that men are a lot stronger and more dominant than women and there for are more mentally strong, brave and successful.

The male character ‘Fred’ although as an audience at the start there is no clear signs of identity for him, he audience have no idea what he looks like as he is hidden behind a gas mask which would later be explained if we could have continued filming. There is no clear signs of nationality, or name. He is shown to be quite mysterious, as first of all we do not expect what he plans to do, but the audience definitely do begin to understand that he isn’t quite sane, by the way he is portrayed and his movements are quit sharp and aggressive. He is definitely the antagonist.

His visual aspects are quite clear beside the fact that he hides behind a mask, he is a lot wearing a quite dirty boiler suit, Yet again he cannot form and identify with plain clothes so he is quite intriguing as he is hard for the audience to work out, as its not clear whether he is sinister or not.

Kami who is my female character is represented to be the stereotypical hostage woman, who is tied up and is helpless and as far as we know is being kept down an old war bunker, the audience have no idea how long she has been down there or what she has done. She shows the stereotypical emotions of struggling and screaming. By having a stereotypical ‘Normal’ girl allows the audience to relate to her but at the same time it allows me to show the and enhance how messed up Fred my male actor is. This agrees with the codes and conventions of the Thriller genre as the majority of thriller films do have a ‘Damsel in distress’ at some point.

The camera shot of her being highlighted by the spotlight, shows her struggle and the illumination of her in a dark place shows how alone she must feel.

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

1.

My media product was a 2-minute film opening, I chose my genre to be a Psychological thriller after watching many existing products I chose a genre that I personally enjoy I think a viewer gets satisfaction from a psychological film as it isn’t just something to sit back and watch. I find that those particular films are very interactive with the viewer; you can begin to form relationships with the characters. It allows you to think for yourself and gives a satisfying end rather than a unexplained film can leave you feeling a bit disappointed, it develops and challenges typical codes, forms and conventions of existing film openings.

As I was aware, I knew that the conventions of a thriller film used suspense, tension, and excitement, as their main key elements and then film will usually have a criminal or murderer involved. There is also normally some sort of main plot or chase scene. This revolves around the key elements of suspense and tension and reflects the film for being a Thriller.

I tried to keep my film simple by not having any dialogue in the first two minutes as I thought that dialogue would distract the viewer where as if there is no dialogue just natural background sound, the viewer becomes more focused with their observation as they have to try harder to understand, it is possible to pre-judge something when you hear a certain type vocabulary or a particular accent. To avoid pr-judgement not including dialogue will allowed the viewer to dictate his or her own first impressions of the film.

By combining the codes and conventions of two types of genres, I have created a hybrid genre ‘ Psychological thriller’

The typical codes and conventions of a Psychological thriller would be a hero, a victim and a hidden plot that the audience begin to understand throughout the film or programme, I think it was a good idea to follow this route as things like psychological thrillers are not to obvious but keep the audience interested.

By having two genres that I have to work with it actually challenges me to try and combine the codes and conventions successfully

For example A Thriller generally focuses on the plot over the characters, which emphasizes in intense physical actions over the characters psyche.

Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this, as they emphasize on the characters just as much.

The fact that the camera is filming behind the bushes gives and element of mystery and it is if the camera is hiding away from the truck for a specific reason

Viewing from a distance On the way down the field the camera is always viewing from a distance away this would suggest that it is not an idea to get to close.

Head shaking in the cab is to show that he isn’t quite sane, I could have paid a lot more attention to detail on this and I think I could have been a lot more successful.

This is showing that my film opening follows and uses typical codes and conventions of both genres when relating to editing areas such as lighting and transitions

A Film Completed

I completed the film and I am very pleased with it, The amount of time and hassle I caused myself due to me being so un organised is a lesson learnt. Im going to try and organise myself alot more. I think I could have successfully finished the prodject weeks back if I was more focused and confident with what I was doing. But now that I have completed it, has made me feel alot more confident about using other technologies.

Final Film Stages

My film is so nearly completed, It has been so hard to learn how to use Final Cut, It has taken up a dramatic amount of time to understand how to use it, and the manual that Apple provide is not the easiest to understand. But I am almost there, I need to add titles and refine some of the transitions then it should be complete. But I hope I complete it on time.

Latest Shot List

Extra Filming

The major bit of the film have been filmed and completed yesterday. One of my actors Fred took Kami and me to the loctation the get the remaing bit done,. also a few bits extra to add on if i need to extend it.

We got the entering the bunker filmed

As well as the hostage scene-
A few changes had to happen, We didnt want to hurt Kami so we got a back of a door to let her lay on and loosly tied her arms around it as we didnt want to confine her to much as it is quite clastrophobic down in the bunker, but it was very succesful

I was most pleased with the spot light section and my torch was perfect to scope round the room and then focus on Kami and it came up well on the camera

If i could have improved anything it would of been to had more lighting down there as it is really dark, and we should have worn protective clothing as there is alot of metal on the floor and sharp metal edges on the ladder.

I should have bought some insect spray as it took atleast 10 minutes for Kami and I to get down there after Fred had to clear away all the ginormous spiders.

Dialogue

I saw no point in having any dialogue in my film because it wanted it to be more of a visual focus and i personally think any dialogue could be quite distracing. I wanted the visual aspects of the characters and the setting also the words to be the main focus.

I have have recored a few scenes with dialouge (out-takes) so i do have the option to put it in if i feel its nessasary but i dont really want to

Sounds

I decided not to really have any Music in the Film, as I wanted the visual aspects to be focused on more. Though I did decide to add Dizzee Rascal- Bonkers
His movement to the music is an idiosyncratic a particular mannerism that is repeated throughout, to show his insanity.
It turns on, on Cue when Fred is driving in to accompany him as he is driving along it stops on Cue as he slams the door.

The song Bonkers is relevant as he helps to nictitate how crazy Fred is, it also fits with the timing quite well and it something that would be played on a Radio Station.

The place in the music that I have focused on is from 00.47- 01.02. Its in that time that there is a lyricless, bit which I quite liked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci40ae8BlcE

Actors

For actors I am keeping them at at a minimum I will be using only two people.
-One as the suspected insane serial killer
-The other as a hostage.

The fact that i have decided to have only two actors doesnt give me the challenge I want but it does actually allow me to have more control of time and quality. It will be alot easier to arrange filming days as there will only be three of us and one being my boyfriend and the other the bestfriend they are alot more willing to help me, and have been really helpful and supportive and co-operate really well together.

Fred makes a perfect anatagonist as he is willing to dress up in the costume I have decided on, He has been great to work with so far, and he hasnt been embarrassed about wearing the mask, though it was very hard for him to see visually with the mask on whilst driving. But apart from that he has been great and has helped me to create the look I wanted his character to be.

I chose Kami, as she is very feminine and she to has been very proffesional about the film, Her apperance is exactly what I wanted, as she has a very femine face she is easy to distinguse.

I am planning to keep the personalities and identiy separate with the audience to portray the fact that it could be anyone in the situation they are in

The man
Role

The Captive

Props

Gas Mask- I finally managed to get hold of the gas mask at £15 of ebay it was sent over from russia and arrived the next day it was crucial that it came. I made sure it was safe to respire in but removing the separte filter just incase. By removing it actually made the movement easer, as the filter is quite heavy. The Gas Mask was to hide identiy but not only that I thought it was very eyecatching and quite sinister

Rope- The rope is to signify something to tie Kami up with, The rope was quite heavy. I borrowed the rope off Fred.

Spot light-  Was a very large torch that I brought along from home.

Zippo- The Zippo lighter is Freds he has lent it to me I have used it to show how dark it is down the bunker.

Sledgehammer- This is not seen first of all but it is on the back of the Truck, I chose the sledgehammer as it is a wepon though it is unclear to

Landrover- Fred landrover did play a key roll as it suited the character and its quite a unique vechile. It also allowed us to get places on the field with ease.

Costume

Fred

-Boiler Suit
It was lucky that Fred had alot of Boiler Suits to wear which meant no money spent, I chose the Green, Red and Grey Suit as it was easy to distingish on camera, and made the Gas Mask Stand out
-Gas Mask
I finally managed to get hold of the gas mask at £15 of ebay it was sent over from russia and arrived the next day it was crucial that it came. I made sure it was safe to respire in but removing the separte filter just incase. It was very effective and was one of the key things that I wanted to add into my film.
-Steel Toe Capped Boots
I made sure that Fred wore these, as it was very wet outside and by wearing the boots he had grip. It also went well with the Boiler Suit.

Kami

-Small Jacket
I didnt actually plan for Kami to wear a Jacket, I wanted her to wear a small vest top with a cardian which i was going to add mud to. I was going to give her some of my clothes to wear incase the mud was difficult to get out. But once we got down into the Bunker we realised how bitterally cold it was down there, so Fred lended her his Jacket. Which also worked fine I wasnt to concerned about Kami's choice of clothes as the main focus was her face.
-Leggings
It didnt really matter what bottom half she had on as the camera was in Mid-Shot of her face, not her bottom half. They were alot more comfortable for her to wear but if I had known how cold it was going to be down there I would have given her some Jogging Bottoms
-Wellies
I definatley insisted that she wore wellies not because I wanted it for the film, To ensure her saftey there was alot of old debris on the floor and the surface was very muddy which made it quite slippy. The Wellies had alot of grip on and they kept her feet dry.

Film Title Ideas

Sub-terror
Bellow
Hatch
Hideout
One level down

Location Bunker

Years ago I was out on a car trip with some of my friends, We were out by Ikleton and they told me that they had heard about an Underground bunker around that area. So we went out to find it we knew roughly where it was but it is sometimes very hard to spot and you will often finding yourself driving past is as there is no, big indications or reconisable things around the area.

So when I started planning my film I thought that bunker is quite unique and would be quite a good location, I was quite apprehensive about going back that as it was quite a few years since last went. So I was worried about how safe it was. As the Hatch does have a habit of closing on you, and it is unbelievebly heavy to push back up again.

So I went to go vist a few days before I was due to start filming to make sure it was going to be safe, armed with a Torch and some Rope. Fred and I went to have a look. It seemed to be in same state as I once remember, The only different was that there was alot more spiders down there and old bits of wood and metal on the floor.

I was pleased that I would be able to film in it as I think it is a very unique place.

Location

The Introduction location for my film is out in a public byway in Newport, It is always very muddy and not easy for cars to access.
I chose it because, how secluded it is,  knew that no-one other than mabey a few dogwalkers would come by so i have pleantly of room to move.
There are lots of areas that have made me want to film there as I have access to half a wood which i could sit in, Huge banks which i could sit on which would give a very big height differece which would be great for a High angle shot. There is a Bridge next to the M11 that I can climb up and stand on. I can also stand underneath the bridge. So it would give me a great range of shots, in a small area.

Film Idea

The basic idea of the film is a 'Thriller' about a masked man that we have ni connectionwith apart from the fact that he likes to hide his identiy with a gas mask,
Bacally it is about him getting ready to geo meet his hostage that he has in an underground bunker in the middle of no were,
As it is an openeing scene it isnt meant to have the whole story sumed up in about 2 mins so, im just showing the part of what the man does and what he is like and one of his first hostages but obviously the film improves later on.
As he expalins how he picks up the girls and the reason for the bunker..