Friday 4 April 2014

Evaluation - Question Seven

My group member Beth has chose to answeer this question using a powerpoint that is embedded below using SlideShare. In the powerpoint she has written about the similarities and differenences between the preliminary task and final project.



Evaluation - Question Six

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

I've answered this question by creating a timeline for my group on the website TimeToast. Using a timeline allows my group to answer this question in an interactive, systematic, organised and engaging format.
The timeline answering this question is embedded below.





Thursday 3 April 2014

Evaluation - Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I've chosen to answer this question in the form of a GoAnimate animation, the videos are embedded below. I've created a profile of a typical audience member viewing my groups final film project on GoAnimate.
Within the animations the profile entails information on the target audience members hobbies and interests as well as a little bit of pshycographic information.
who would be the target audience of your product? by s_tak on GoAnimate
who would be the target audience of your product 2 by s_tak on GoAnimate


Our film would appeal to Emma because she has an interest in murder mystery/crime tv shows which can be similar to psychological thrillers and horror films . Also Emma is a teenage girl with a clear liking for horror films and so she would probably look forward to watching my groups film 'The Perpetrator' in cinemas, because the leading actress in our film is a teenage girl from London. Taking note of this Emma may be appealed to watch our film because she finds the leading actress similar to her, related to the uses and gratifications model; she would find our media text appealing because it personally appeals to her and presents her with a role model/ someone she can look up to.  Furthermore, 'The Perpetrator' is similar and in the same genre of some of her favorite films. So our film would easily appeal to her. It can be noted that my groups target audience questionnaire results have also made it clear that a girl in Emma's age range like our ideal target audience.

Evaluation - Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?

My group member Amy has answered this question. Amy has answered part of the question by creating an online presentation on the website Kizoa. 



Kizoa slideshow: evaluation - Slideshow


Below the annotation tool on YouTube is used to highlight how my group has specifically tried to address and attract our audience to our opening titles and sequence. I've embedded the video below.



Evaluations - Question Three

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


My group member Amy has answered this question by creating an online mindmap on the website Bubbl, which I have embedded on to my blog below.


Wednesday 2 April 2014

Evaluation - Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My  group member Beth has answered this question in the form of a blog post.
Our sequence 'The Perpetrator' mainly depicts young teenage girls, we have chosen to use this particular social group because young teenage girls are stereotypically quite naive and oblivious to dangerous situations. This is ideal for horror films as there is already some kind of danger, which created a greater thrill for the audience.
To the left is a collage I have created using Photoshop, I have chosen to compare our main character with 'Jill' from Scream 4. 'Jill' is a prime example of how characters are denoted, so I have created a character for our horror film, that was widely influenced from 'Jill' from Scream 4.
Both characters are attired similarly, they both wear subtle clothing, that does not attract attention, this connotes that they are simplistic and oblivious to any danger that may befall them. Both 'Jill' and our character take the role of the victim in their horror films, which could be as a result of their oblivion to danger and their simplistic view of life.

However 'Jill' is filming this scene in the night, which is slightly more conventional for a horror film, however when we were filming, we discovered that night time filming was impractical as it was not entirely clear what was happening. Therefore we have done our filming in daylight, where it is clear and coherent what is happening. 

All in all the elements listed above help to represent a normal social group, my groups final film project also aims to represent this social collective. The teenage actor in our final project looks like a normal everyday teenager - wearing casual clothing and acting like most teenagers do, doing nothing out of the ordinary or anything out of character for a teenager in today's day and age.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Evaluation - Question One

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



Above is a contact sheet that I have created on Photoshop featuring stills from our horror film opening sequence.

  1. The first frame denotes the location/setting in our film. It is a slow panning shot, acting as an establishing shot. From this shot it becomes clear to viewers that the film is set in an abandoned forest, a conventional setting of the horror film. Shots like this are typical in film openings as they grab viewers attention and help to create a mood for the overall film. In this case the slow paced shot creates an eerie mood
  2. The main character Amy, in this scene, is introduced in our second shot. Like most conventional film openings the main character(s) in the film are introduced in the opening sequence. We have used a low angle shot to introduce Amy, as she walks towards and past the camera, into the forest.
  3. The title font is shown in the third frame. and it looks quite bold and eye catching. My group chose to use a simplistic font because in horror titles the fonts aren't usually over styled. We gave our white titles font a glow and shadow making it seem ghostly
    connoting that our films narrative explores people dying. In horror films it's conventional for title fonts to reflect the story line of the whole film. For example in 'The Cabin In The Woods'  the titles font looks like dripping blood, connoting that the film has a dangerous/violent story line.
  4. The fourth image in the contact sheet highlights how our opening sequence suggests the genre of our film. This is another conventional feature of film openings. We have made it clear that our genre is horror by using an isolated forest, creating a tense mood. Also Amy,our main character, is young and blind to the dangers around her another stereotypical feature in horror films. Furthermore, this camera angle suggests that someone is watching Amy from afar, connoting that she could be in great danger in the next few scenes of the film. 
  5. Costume and props are denoted in this image. Amy, is denoted in the frame wearing leggings, a hooded body warmer, a black jumper and a plain white t shirt. Her whole outfit follows the stereotypical representation of teenagers, as she is wearing informal clothing. Also her hoodie is a piece of iconography associated with teenagers.
  6. Camera work and editing is denoted in the next frame. My group have used a match on action editing technique in this part of the film. It's quite conventional for this techniques to be used in all genre films.
  7. My group has used special effects in this frame. We put a tinted filter onto this frame, to make it seem like Amy is being looked at from another characters perspective. This is also connoted by the framing of this shot as Amy is being observed through tree branches, connoting that someone is secretly watching her. We also used a hand held filming effect in this part of the film to make it look like a point of view shot.
  8. The story builds up as the opening sequence progresses. Amy is last seen on screen looking shocked and frightened, leaving viewers wondering what will happen next. This sets the story of the film up and suggests that someone of great danger is in Amy's town. To keep our titles conventional we decided to keep them slow paced and not have too much action in them, as this would go against typical film titles. Similar to films like 'Scream' Amy's story is building up to the main story in the film and we have tried to draw inspiration from Saw where one of the various characters in the film is killed off in the opening.   
  9. The last image on our contact sheet is of the main title in our opening. We decided to have the main title at the end of our opening sequence as it has a dramatic entrance and leaves a cliff hanger as to how the story will further unfold in the film. It's also conventional for the title to be after the opening sequence in the film in some horror films, as seen in the video below from Scream 4. My group chose the title 'The Perpetrator' because it means "someone who commits a crime or evil". The title reflects the horror genre. It also relates to the story line in our film where a serial killer is on the lose.                                                        

The video above is related to the points made about stills 8 and 9

Overall, my groups opening sequence and titles are meant to be conventional of the horror genre.