Evaluation Question Seven

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


When I look at my prelim task and compare it to my final film, I think that it is alot better and not only have my skills as an individual have improved but our skills as a group have improved also. I have learnt a great amount about time management which I feel has been one of the most important lessons and I have also learnt alot about a variety of different skills needed to create a professional looking film.

One of the things I learnt from creating our preliminary task, was to check for continuity errors as we made a noticeable mistake towards the end of our film. The image below shows the error we made and is indicated by the red arrow just to make it clear. What we did was leave the green wig on the side in shot, and then move it in the next shot because it was part of the scene.

Our prelim task also taught me to be careful with the text colour and effects we used in our titles. This is because our white text couldn't be seen against the light from the window and the effect we used on the writing meant that not all of the letters showed up which meant the titles couldn't be read properly by the audience. This is shown by the images I have inserted below. The text which should've read 'Camerawork' came out as 'Cam raw' which taught us to be careful with the text effects we chose, however it also gave us the name for our production company.

Our preliminary task also taught me many necessary skills for when we shot our final film. I learnt about panning in particular because in our prelim task. I used panning, however, I didn't use it well. I completed the pan successfully but moved the camera part way through the shot, this made the shot look bad and I learnt from this that I need to be more careful in the final film. 

We successfully learnt how to complete a match-on-action shot and I think that this is something which we have continued to get right and make sure it is perfect before we move on. We learnt to be careful where we were cutting our footage in order to not create a jump cut and were very careful when editing our final film to make sure nothing distracted us when watching it. We used a dolly in our final film which we learnt how to use a few weeks before we shot that scene, I think that learning to use the dolly was worth while because it allowed us to add an extra element in our film we wouldn't have been able to use otherwise.

Although I have previously mentioned the use of lighting and how we learnt to be careful, we did misjudge something when filming our final film. We used the three point lighting system when filming our actress against the black curtain, however did not use any lighting when filming the rest of the film. The use of the natural light did let us down a little bit because we knew that the shot looked dark, however, this did make our film feel more real than it would've done had we used extra lighting.

 

On the left it is clear that we have used extra lighting.

On the right it is clear that we have used natural light.

Overall, I have found working on my media task very enjoyable. I have learnt many valuable lessons along the way, yet still enjoyed every second of it!

• I have learnt that it is important to have individual roles within your production company, because this means that everyone has to pull their weight otherwise the final product doesn't get completed on time. It also means that no one is left to do all of the work by themselves.
• I have also learnt that time management is very important, a shooting schedule would be a necessity for me next time I were to shoot a film. This is because without this there is no real sense of urgency and some group members are alot more laid back than others.
• I have learnt that feedback is essential if you want to make sure that your finished product will be the best that you can possibley make it. Without it, you may not spot mistakes which someone else would and this can let you down.
• I have learnt alot of new skills which I didn't previously have and I hope to be able to put them to use in the future.

Evaluation Question Six

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


Since I began constructing media products in my lessons I have learnt alot of useful skills to successfully create our end product. Technology has helped me to do this and there are alot of softwares and methods which have made the process of making our film easier. Below I have included some examples of the things which I have learnt about the different technologies which I have been introduced to and how they have helped me.

The first, and for me, most important thing which has helped me to make our film is the digital video camera which we used. This allowed us to capture out footage straight onto the Mac's and not have to have the problems that existed with previous video cameras, where the film needed to be developed. The use of digital video cameras has allowed the process of gaining the footage you have taken, so much quicker and easier.

The Apple Mac's have also been very important in helping us to create our final film. They have allowed us to use all of the software which we have needed (which I will discuss separately), and they have also allowed us to gain some real experience. Apple Mac's are used in the professional film making industry as there are less compatibility issues, using them to create our films has allowed us real industry experience which will benefit us in the long run if we choose to work in the film industry.

Final Cut Express has allowed us to edit our film with less hassle than if we weren't using software. It used to be that when editing a film, you had to take the film strip out of the camera, cut it up, and glue it back together with the changes and shots that you wanted. Final cut has allowed us to make mistakes and change them, whereas with a method like the one I previously described there isn't really any room for mistakes. Final Cut also allowed us to record sound into our film, so we were able to over-dub the scream in the graphic match which would not have been possible without this kind of software.

Soundtrack Pro enabled us to import copyright free sounds into Final Cut to be used on our film. This meant that there was less expense for us as we didn't have to buy a licence in order to use music on our film.

Our group didn't use Storyboard Quick when in the production stages of our film, however if we had have done then it would've saved us alot of time. We learnt how to use it, however felt that we could get better results if we hand drew our storyboard. Next time I know that I should use the software that I have at my disposal because it will save me alot of time and frustration when trying to scan in images and put them all together.

Final Draft AV was a very useful piece of software which we had access to. It allowed us to write our script and talk about the camera shot and action on screen which would accompany it. This meant that when we were filming we knew exactly what went where and when added to the use of our storyboard, they made filming alot easier for us and allowed us to concentrate on making sure our shots were of high quality, instead of worrying about whether or not we were filming the right things in the right place. 

Youtube allowed us to upload and share our videos quickly and easily. Without this piece of technology we would not be able to share our film with anyone else other than our classmates because we wouldn't really have a way of doing this with just one copy of the film.

Finally, Blogger has allowed me to document the processes that I have gone through as I have gone along and has been alot more beneficial than something like a scrapbook would have been. This is because I have been able to not only edit and correct mistakes in posts, but also upload videos, trial shots, and upload audio feedback from Scribd (which has also been a useful piece of technology I have had access to). Blogger has allowed me to document my journey of becoming a film maker in real detail.

The technology and software which I have had access to have really helped me on my journey of making our film and have allowed me to have a real experience of what film making is actually like in the film making industry.

Evaluation Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?


My group and I had to make sure that our film appealed to our target audience. To do this we added a few things to make sure that we were addressing what we thought our audience wanted from a film in order to enjoy it. We were targetting 15+ year olds, right through to the mid-twenties and perhaps even some middle aged people due to the mystery element. We wanted to aim for a fairly large audience because we thought our film had the potential to appeal to more people. Below I have included six examples of things we added to appeal to our audience and who exactly they would appeal to.

 1. The blonde female we used was there to attract a male audience, both young and older. We researched the kind of women used in thrillers and found that almost every thriller gets an attractive female to star in their lead role. Films like 'Psycho' may be older films, but the actress who plays the lead is still attractive and despite the film being in black and white it is obvious that she has light coloured hair. 

We used a young couple in our film because most young people have been in a relationship at some point and most have had fall outs too. If they've not had fall outs with a partner then they have with their parents, so we hoped that the real life situation was something which they could relate to which would in turn appeal to the audience because they feel that can connect more with the actors on screen.

We included a car chase in our film and planned to include alot more action scenes if it were to be more than a 2 minute beginning. We added the action scenes because we know that alot of males in particular enjoy watching action films. This meant that our film was opening itself up to an even wider audience range.

We used the story line of going out and partying, coming back drunk and not remembering what happened the night before because we thought that it would appeal to the 18+ audience which we were hoping to attract, we also thought that it might appeal to some 17 year olds aswell, because although the legal drinking age is 18, underage drinking does take place. We included the idea that she may have had her drink spiked (to be revealed after the two minutes), because we wanted to include a real life issue and include a moral; to watch what you're drinking, who you're with and to not accept drinks from strangers because unfortunately, things like this do happen.

The use of modern technology, we thought would appeal to anyone who came to watch our film, but particularly our younger audience because they are digital natives. We wanted to show that although technology is a good thing, you also need to be careful with it because situations can get out of control. The use of a mobile phone targets anyone with a mobile because the storyline which we integrated into our thriller held a message of being careful who you talk to and give your number to, so we wanted to try to get that across and appeal to the target audience at the same time.

Our titles weren't exactly ordinary because we included the text which would usually be added to a shot, in with the storyline of finding out the ending first. We did this because we wanted to create mystery within our film and also leave the audience feeling a little disorientated and wondering what was going on. By doing this we were intentionally getting them to relate with the actress on screen because she too was left not knowing what was going on around her. By doing this, I think that we targetted our audience in a way that was not expected.


We targetted our audience in a few different way, the main way being to get them to relate to the actors on screen. By doing this we hoped that this meant that they enjoyed the film alot more than they would've done if they hadn't have been invloved and it also meant that we got them to empathise with the character and be even more shocked by the ending that we had planned.

Evaluation Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?


The target audience for our media product is 15+ year olds going up to mid-twenty year olds. We also hope to target middle aged people with the element of mystery that we have in our film. Our main target audience is males however, we do know that there are a selection of females who would want to come and see our film because they enjoy thrillers and action films, however some females would only come to watch our film if they were taken by their boyfriend or maybe their brother. Below I have included some images of what we think our target audience might be like.

This image shows a group of teens who I know and who are around 17/18 years old, these are our main target. There is a gender imbalance as there is only one female and the rest are males. The males in this image would enjoy watching our thriller and they would like to watch our film because of the action and also because of the young, attractive blonde female aho we have used in our film. The female in the image, would like to watch the film because of the action and mystery involved in the story line and also because she can relate to some of the stroylines included.

This image shows an example of a young couple between 17-19 years old. The male in this image would like to go and see our film because of the female actress playing the lead role in the film, whereas the female in this image would go and watch this film because she has been taken to see it by her boyfriend. Although the action and thriller elements of the film may not appeal to her, the real life situations and elements of mystery probably would.

The images show our main target audience. Although we aim to please middle aged year olds with our film aswell they are not a main target, so I have not included them in with the teenagers which I have shown. We would like the think that we have included enough elements to appeal to our target audience and I will further discuss these elements when answering question five.

Evaluation Question Three

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

Our film is a British Independent film so would probably be distributed by someone who specialises in British Independent films. There are multiple ways to distribute films such as DVD, Cinema and Download. To answer this question in more depth, I have researched some companies who distribute shorts, as I felt it was necessary for me to discuss companies who distribute smaller films as opposed to only discussing large distribution companies who distribute films for production companies such as Working Title. I have included some companies which I found and an explanation of their company, below.

http://www.tri7entertainment.com/distribute.htm

Tri-Seven are a distribution company who add films to their website and they distribute them via a pay-per-download service. They take on shorts which are between 5-30 minutes long and prefer the film to have an inspirational message, however, as they only take films which are at least 5 minutes, I don’t think that they would distribute our film as it is, perhaps when finished if we could make it under 30 minutes, which is doubtful. They would be able to distribute our film via download so this would be a good option for us.

http://www.elypsefilm.com/

Elypse is a distribution copany which is based in Spain, but distributes films worldwide. They do not have an specifications for what kind of films they look for, but have a huge list of films in their catolgue which can be viewed on the website. They look like they are easy to contact and say that they will reply quickly. I think this company would distribute our film for us, both as it is and as a finished product.

http://www.shortsinternational.com/

Shorts International is based in London, however, also has offices in New York Los Angeles and Paris. I gather from their website that they have links to iTunes, which would mean that the films are distributed to a wide range of people. Their submission form gives the option to state whether it is a student film and if so, what school you attend. I think that this would mean that this company would accept our film and would distribute it for us, definitely as a finished product and possibly also as a 2 minute beginning as it is. 

http://www.omnifilmdistribution.com/

Omni Film Distribution Inc is based in California and distributes films and sells them on DVD. The description of the film can be found on the website and can also be purchased on the site. They accept films of all genres and lengths so I think that they would accept our film. This would be a good option for us as it would be a way for us to distribute our film on DVD.

I have found these examples of small distribution companies who may distribute our film for us, however, I think that because we only have a 2 minute beginning, the most likely place where we could get our film seen would be at a film festival. Although the Edinburgh Film Festival shows larger films, there are also film festivals which specialise in short films. I think this would be the most likely place for us to get our film seen by an audience.