1)In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The first thing that I did in producing this media product was to look at and deconstruct a variety of different films that already existed. When I looked at the films I wanted to find out are the features of a generic film opening were. From the deconstructions I found out where and when titles should appear in the opening also I found out that all movie openings have the films production companies’ logo. This is why for my film I have created a production company ‘Sunrise Productions’ as I wanted my film to have a professional look and feel.
The key features of a film opening are :
· Camera work
· Mise en Scene
· Sound
For camera work I found out that horror film had a lot of close up and point of view. The person that the camera is first set upon is normally the main character of the film. This is done so that the audience can see clearly see the characters face, and then recognise them later on in the film. One of the main factors of my film is that the hands of the killing dead family are seen first before they kill their victims. This is why have used the camera to show a close up of the hand hidden in the soil.
I used the mise en scene in my film opening to show that it is just a normal day when the hand is discovered in the mud mound. I dressed the main character in clothes that a person walking their dog would wear, such as a waterproof coat, walking boots and so on. I used the mise en scene to show the audience that there was nothing to suggest that there was anything bad going on, until that hand is discovered. This is one of the things that I found out when deconstructing movie openings, this is when the film opening is of a nice, peaceful day and then suddenly it completely changes to a scary and horrifying day all with in the blink of an eye.
Sound is one of the key features of a film opening, the sound can be used to emphasise something so that the audience can notice it. Sound can also be used to inform the audience of the presents of something, for example in jaws, sound is used to inform the audience that the shark is near. In my film opening I used the sound of birds tweeting as I think that birds represent a kind of innocence. I used the birds to trick the audience into thinking that the film is going to be a nice and quiet film. This is why when the hand jumps out I stop having the sound effects of the birds as the film no longer has any type of innocence to it.
2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product I think represets the working class, this is becasue the main character in the film is dressed in average clothes which would be related to wokring class by the target audince. By appealing to the class, I think I gave maximised the amount of people that would watch my fine. This is becasue the working class is statistically the the class which go to the cinema the most. As my film would be shown in the cinema I think that this is really importnat as the film will then make a lot of money and profit will go to the film and companies associated with the film.
3) What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?I think that a company like Summit Entertainment would distribute and fund my film. This is because it is an independent production and distribution company. This would be perfect for my films as it would be from the same company that produced Twilight. As Twilight was such a success I believe that more and more people would be willing to watch this film as it has links to such a famous and successful film.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience for this project is young people (teenagers).
I chose this target audience group because when I did my target audience research I found out that horror films were really popular with this age of audience. As it’s a horror film it suits both female and male. Which is a really good thing as my film will then appeal to a wider audience. I thought of the plot to the horror film, by using the key features that I found out from researching many horror films. In the horror film I decided to have a quite build up to the film and then a dramatic sudden jump, I had a lot eye level shots which helped to link the audience to the main character. I chose the main character carefully as I want my audience to feel connected to the main character; I wanted the audience to feel as though the main character was a mother figure, so when she dies they will feel emotional. After I had completed the film I showed my film to lot of people, which included members of my target audience.
2)How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product I think represets the working class, this is becasue the main character in the film is dressed in average clothes which would be related to wokring class by the target audince. By appealing to the class, I think I gave maximised the amount of people that would watch my fine. This is becasue the working class is statistically the the class which go to the cinema the most. As my film would be shown in the cinema I think that this is really importnat as the film will then make a lot of money and profit will go to the film and companies associated with the film.
3) What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?I think that a company like Summit Entertainment would distribute and fund my film. This is because it is an independent production and distribution company. This would be perfect for my films as it would be from the same company that produced Twilight. As Twilight was such a success I believe that more and more people would be willing to watch this film as it has links to such a famous and successful film.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience for this project is young people (teenagers).
I chose this target audience group because when I did my target audience research I found out that horror films were really popular with this age of audience. As it’s a horror film it suits both female and male. Which is a really good thing as my film will then appeal to a wider audience. I thought of the plot to the horror film, by using the key features that I found out from researching many horror films. In the horror film I decided to have a quite build up to the film and then a dramatic sudden jump, I had a lot eye level shots which helped to link the audience to the main character. I chose the main character carefully as I want my audience to feel connected to the main character; I wanted the audience to feel as though the main character was a mother figure, so when she dies they will feel emotional. After I had completed the film I showed my film to lot of people, which included members of my target audience.
I did this so that I could get a good amount of feedback from members and non members of my target audience. Then I can used their feedback to make anything that I do I the future as good as it can be.
Below is just some of the feedback that I got. The names of people that are in a bold font are members of my target audience:
Steph Langford: I really like the film as if I watched it I think that I would be jumping a lot, and that’s what I really like from horror film.
Sam Evans: I think it was good and original, but it was a bit short. I think if you were to do it again I would recommend that it should be a little longer in duration.
Betty Morris: The light is the same the whole way through which gave it good continuity. The use of the birds tweeting is good as it gave me the feel that nothing could go wrong, and then suddenly we see the hand.
Jonny Langford: I think that it had a good use of eye level shots; they make you feel as though you as the audience are there and not just watching the film.
Roger Cooper: Although I don’t really like horror films, I thought that the start of this got me really interested in to the film and wanting to know what happens next.
Alan Davies: I thought that the opening was not long enough and you could not really get in to the film. I would make it longer of you were to do it again.
William Michel: Brill. So original the way that you get the dog to dig the hand up. ‘Woah’ how did you do that. The use of the dog will connect any animal lovers to the film.
As you can see from the feedback that I have shown, it was a popular film and was very popular with my target audience.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?In my project I think that I have addressed/attracted to the audience by me having the main character, just walking the dog on a normally day. I think this is important as this is one of the most popular ways of starting a horror film. I my research into horror films over 70% of the films started with a normal day, with everything you would expect and then suddenly the film changes to nightmare. This is why I used birds tweeting in the opening; I think it gives the audience the effect that the day is just like any other. This is a really good way of attracting my target audience of young people, as the change in the appearance of the film with interest them and keep them watching.
Another way that I have addressed/attracted my audience is by having a average looking woman as my main character. I used this actress because I think that my target audience of young people will relate this woman to their mother. By the audience doing this they feel like they have a connection to the woman, this will keep them interested in the film. As they want to find out what happens to the woman.
As the camera is at eye for most of the film opening this may make the audience feels as though they are present in the clip and not just a audience watching. This will attract the audience to the film; this is because the audience will feel like part of the film.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Though out my media project I have used a lot of media tools. I learnt how to use all the equipment and how to get the best use from them. All of the different equipment that I used is:
Though out my media project I have used a lot of media tools. I learnt how to use all the equipment and how to get the best use from them. All of the different equipment that I used is:
· www.Blogger.com
· Apple iMac
· iMovie (OSX Snow Lepord)
· iPhoto (OSX Snow Lepord)
· iDVD (OSX Snow Lepord)
· Jessops Tripod
· Canon Camera
· Adobe Photoshop CS4
· Microsoft word (Office 2007).
I am now going to talk about some of different equipment that I used:
http://www.blogger.com/
For my project I used Blogger to display all of my work. I think that it is a really good way of displaying work as it is really well laid out and you can have images and video on your posts. The posts help to keep related work together really well.
For my project I used Blogger to display all of my work. I think that it is a really good way of displaying work as it is really well laid out and you can have images and video on your posts. The posts help to keep related work together really well.
I used the cannon camera when filming my final product. I really liked the cannon camera because it was very simple compared to some of the other cameras in the media department. The camera was also really easy to use. For my prelinmary task I used another make and it let me down and took me a long time to understand how to use the camera. Yet when my friend (also doing media) suggested me to use the cannon camera, because to was really simple and easy to use. Another good thing about the camera was that it was really light, which meant that it was easy for the tripod, meaning it was not holding too much weight.
The type of cannon camera that I used was the MD 235.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since my preliminary task I think that I have learnt a lot of important things, such as:
As there was so much to do for this project I decided at the start that I was going to create a timeline of the individual deadlines for this project. I made the timeline from the deadlines that my teacher advised me to stick to. I feel from doing this I have learnt how to stick to deadlines, this skill has also helped me in other subjects.
I think that my final product is a lot better that my preliminary product, this is because I have learnt how to use the camera properly and therefore I can used the camera to its full use and get a better result of product from it. This is an image of the camera that I used.
One of the really important things that I learnt was that I can hold a steady/still shot with the camera, this is one of the things that I struggled with in the preliminary task. Yet I think in the final product I can hold a very good still shot, this is because I practiced with the camera and now I understand how to do it.
Another thing that I have learnt is that, good and detailed plan is a really good thing to have. I learnt this lesson when filming my preliminary task. This is because when filming my preliminary task I wanted to film it on the Monday, yet I had not planned it very well and my two actors where out shopping, and I could not find any of the props that I wanted. So when it came to my final product I created a plan. In the plan I included a list of props and where I could find them, I also found out when filming suited my actors and planned the shooting schedule around them. Another way that I planned was to look at a weather forecast for the days that I would be filming on.
Another thing that I have learnt is what a good/professional film looks like. The film opening will inform the audience of many things like: the opening will inform the audience of the genre of the film, another thing is the film opening will include a production name and logo. There will also be credits informing the audience of the actors in the film.
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