Evaluation

The way that my media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of media products by is that in our film we incorporate generic conventions such as close ups of peoples faces or the main thing in the scene that is happening. For example in our film there is a close up of side of someone head whilst that person is getting strangled. This is quite common in films and TV shows such as crime scene investigation where the attack is normally the main thing in the opening scene and is normally full of close ups, points of view shot, over the shoulder shots and at an angle.

We've also filmed it in widescreen as it’s the most common format in Films and TV today. The way that our film challenges the standard conventions is to apply it and also experiment with other things such as establishing point of view shot. The use of the conventions does indicate which sub-genre the film is in as the technique used is generally used in most crime dramas to depict how the crime committed before going to the main storyline. In Donnie Darko, the opening sequence depicts a place which is baron with a person, who is in the middle of the road, waking up. The music in this opening sequence is quite fitting for the since that it’s put with and shows that he’s something special. We do have some suspense that the opening sequence that Donnie Darko creates and also having one character in the whole of the main opening sequence, but we have gone with a faster paced start.

There are different social groups which can be attributed to the main character in out film and also in Donnie Darko. Groups which can be identified because of race or disability could be show in the main characters. Both are judged for being out of the culture of the majority because of race or disability. In the film Donnie Darko, Donnie suffers from Schizophrenia and is stigmatized throughout the film by his family and other people because of it. The same can be said about the main character in the film that can shape shift into animals.

The kind of media institution which could distribute our media product would be a low budget corporation as we are aiming at a more direct audience then a high budget film who would try to aim for everyone to get as much money as they can get. We would be more accurate on what happens in this kind of situation. Hollywood studios would have less factual stuff such as the way that they would work at a crime scene and more pleasing to the eye with big explosions in every scene.  This film could be a TV movie or an internet only release to save money producing it for cinemas and then for other media afterwards. We would have more people watching it if it was on TV then if it was shown in a cinema. Our film does offer opportunities for merchandising as the main characters can be depicted in dolls, the clothing wore by the characters can be used by clothing shops to get people entering their shops to get them and the phone used in the opening sequence to can advertised with the film.



The target audience for our film would be based around a male audience whose ages are around the mid-20s as the style of this film as a lot of detail to take in as well as some amount of violence which might scare away younger people and women who normally like other films such as horrors and animated films. This is shown in our research that males are more likely to watch theses films. Other films which are similar to ours such as Donnie Darko target males around the mid-20s age. The classification I think would be suitable for our film would be 15 as there is a lot of gore or violence in our film. Also there aren’t any sexual scenes or a lot of swearing in our film.

The way that we attracted and addressed our audience was to have the main character as a male who the target audience can compare themselves with. Also the age of the main character can also attract the target audience in as they expect an older experience looking person would suit that role then a youngish looking one. There is a few points in the film would appeal to certain people such as the way the detective works. This would be portrayed in more detail then in normal shows to bring in the audience who like to see thing which are like what they normally do in real life. The audience is also in with the action when see the attack as they see the viewpoint of the killer before they attack the victim. Also they allowed witnessing everything of the attack so they can try to become detectives in the film as well.

I have learnt a lot about the technology from the process of constructing the product such as the camera equipment and the editing software. There weren’t any particular effects that I found to improve the look of the film. We got our soundtrack from a pre-recorded non copyright CD we were given to use which is fine but if we wanted a better fitting soundtrack, we would assign a person to write it or get someone music and try to use it in the film. Comparing the equipment we used in the first opening sequence to this one, we had two different cameras. The first one we used in the first film was a normal small camcorder which with the size of it, the quality of it was mostly poor but it was adequate for filming first person shots. For everything else it was poor and after the first film we ditched it for a larger HD camera. In this film, we got a larger good HD quality camera which was great for us. For most of the shots it was great and the interface on the camera made it easy to use. For first person shots, it wasn’t ideal because of its size but that wasn’t a real issue. Besides the cameras, we used new editing software, Final Cut, and from the first film, quality of the software and the ability of it to actually edit down to the fine detail make it far better then basic iMovie which made editing quicker and more exciting. We also used a title making software to adjust it into what we expected it all to be like.  

The things that I have learnt for the progression of it to the full product are the planning, filming and editing our film. The planning at first was a bit vague to work on but we improved it to the point where we knew what we had to do in every scene. The research into the genre also helped use to realise what we needed in our film for us to produce something which can represent that genre. Although we only had 2 people in our group which made everything a lot harder then it would have been if we had more people on board. This is shown up on how late we actually filmed it as we were waiting for extra people to help us film it which did delay us filming it. If we could do it again we would have filmed it with people we knew we could trust to come along and film so we could never have this happen again. We would also have an extra person in our group to get rid of this problem. The use of specific shot types such as match on action have improved after experimenting with this in our prior project so we could know which is suitable in each situation. I feel more confident with all the equipment we used as we did practised it a lot before and we did used it a lot in filming and editing. I think our end product is quite successful at fulfilling the task although I would change some stuff like the type of camera used and the amount of speech in our film next time.

Evaluation

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

Through our media project, and the film itself, we tried to create a product that matches the generic conventions of a film, from the fantasy/action  genre. For example the main character is typical of characters from the genre, and is just going about  daily life ,but is subjected to prejudice because of his supernatural power .
An example of this is Connor MacLeod, from Highlander who after receiving a mortal wound in battle, is returned to his home ,where he is not expected to survive the night. The next day he emerges from his death bed ,alive and with no visible wounds.The superstitious villagers are convinced that his recovery is due to witchcraft ,and as a result banish him from the village. 
The music used in our film is similar to music that is used in fantasy action movies. Music for the action scenes is quite fast paced,  in parts where there is less action, it will be more mellowed and classical.  Both films contain a Variety of shots early on, changing from one shot  to another shot, while still  establishing the scene shots, such as point of view, and many close up shots. In the film highlander, the action takes place quite early,  this is  similar to our film, and there is a sense of danger in both films, from the beginning.  The weather is  another factor in both movies. at the time of  filming  our production, it was dark, grim ,and wintry , the sort of weather which often creates an atmosphere of mystery ,intrigue and anticipation, which is present in both films.

(Shots ,showing a variety of scenes from Highlander of the fantasy genre)

How does your media product represent particular social group’s?

There are a number of significant social groups that could be attributed to the main character in both our film, and Highlander, as well as other fantasy films.
I have researched other films ,such as Ladyhawke and Fluke. Groups that are socially identified   because of disability, or race, could be defined in these main characters. As they are welcomed by some, but mostly judged, and rejected, because of a feeling of the unknown by others.
For example in the film highlander, it seems that the main character is under constant attack because of his immorality, and thus becomes an outcast in society because of this. The same is said for our main protagonist where he is under attack, because of his supernaturally power of turning into a dog.  

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

Our film is most likely to be produced by companies such as Warner bros, and other large production companies. The production may  be better presented as a TV series ,in a number of parts and making the viewer think about what comes next.
However this is not to say that the film could  not be produced by a independent production company.
There is great interest for fantasy films, with films such as the lord of the rings, Harry potter and avatar bringing in huge amounts of money. 
This shows that there would be an audience who would be interested, even now, in this sort of film .There have not been many films with  a story similar to the one we have produced. This may mean that there is further local and national interest for this type of film.

(The logos of both companies)

            

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for the film is 15 to 40 year olds ,though we thought it would appeal mainly to a male  audience, it could just as likely be female. There is a large element of mystery to the film, but also action ,this allows the film to cross gender boundaries ,attracting both male and female. There are fast paced sequences throughout the film, but some slow sequences filled with suspense, attracting both audience types. We thought that the age rating of the Film would probably be set at 15 years  for younger viewers. Movies such as the lord of the rings and Harry Potter  are enjoy by many people of different ages from their teens to senior citizens . They appeal to everybody, but are not really suitable for young  children and teens below 15.
The film also contains limited violence, and relies on fast paced action for some effects.  If graphic violence and swearing were included in the film, it would of course be given an 18 certificate.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The opening scene for the film is very fast paced, changing between  shots of a dog ,and  the main character. This grabs the attention of the audience immediately, and because the opening scene appears to be exciting,
it gives the audience a good first impression of the film.
  The changing shots of the main character, also attract the audience ,because there are so many different, shots in such a short period of time it gives a sense of fast paced action which will hold the attention of our target audience in the films opening sequences.
The action  gives us a sense of vulnerability,  and also the fear of an impending attack , from the unknown.
The main character looks over his shoulder continually, and seems relived when he has finally escaped from whatever danger is pursuing him. The music is another factor that helps create mood, the fast paced music enhances the scene, making us feel that the character is in great danger from the people chasing him.
At the start of the scene the music is not as tense, but this builds as the character begins to start running.

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

Much has been learnt in the way of technology since we started our project ,most notably the use of camera equipment ,and that of shots , shot types, that are required to make a movie. However ,there have been some weaknesses with the equipment provided to complete the filming. The quality of the cameras that we used previously in the first  project  we worked on,  was not adequate for many of the shots we wanted to achieve. It did not always give good quality film, and frame rate. This time however we used the HD cameras, this gave us better quality shots and were much clearer.
Cameras were not always available for use when we required them,  which created problems with our filming schedule.
For some of the shots I personally had to take the camera home with me to film, this created problems for us when booking the HD camera .
Doing a white balance manually before filming was also difficult , if we had no white paper available. The filming process also had many issues, most notably that we could not always rely on  actors being able to change their schedules to fit in with ours.
This resulted in us having to film the opening scene in a relatively short period.
This combined with time constants, as well as the looming deadline caused us a number of difficulties. We also faced many problems when trying to find the correct music for the film, as many of the CDs we needed for none copyrighted music where not available. We did have a clear idea of the music that we wanted, but as it was copyrighted we could not use it . e.g. music from similar films.
(Old and new camera’s) 

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

The detailed planning at he start of the project ,seemed to be helpful at the time ,allowing us to think though what we need to put into our film and storyboard.
The number of people in our group  also  proved  to be an unhelpful factor within the completion of the project. Our group had only two members throughout  the project ,while some groups contained  five. This was problematic for us and meant that me and my partner had to share all the tasks between us ,overall we had a greater workload than the other groups ,who were able to divide tasks up between more members.
The shooting script, though set out to help us was more a hindrance. Also where we where going to film became a problem, as we  needed a street that was not busy ,but  which appeared lively enough to be realistic in our film.  
Another point to make is that there is no substitute for doing some rough filming beforehand. Even though we had done the shooting script ,and story board .Once we stared filming we soon realised that some of our ideas were not workable in practice  and we realised that we would have to go back to the drawing board for a rethink. In the end although we faced many difficulties with the project, I feel confident that the final product is satisfactory. The project as a whole has been a great leaning experience ,and has shown me just what I can achieve with planning ,and only limited time

(Shots from the Preliminary Task)