Evaluation Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media project? 

We have asked a variety of people, who fit our target audience, 5 questions about the types of films they like to see.

1. How old are you?
2. What is your favourite film genre? 
3. What is your favourite film in that genre?
4. Who would you go see a film with?
5. Would you be more interested in seeing a mainstream or independent film? 

Their responses were:

Hearing their answers, we feel that our film is suited to our target audience (both male and female aged 15-25). We think our film is mainstream, so it will appeal to a wider audience. 

Evaluation Question Three

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?

During this time we have learnt a great deal about filming and editing for example how to put together and edit the shots so that the clip runs smoothly. This was a big problem whilst creating our preliminary project, we had a very bad jump cut in the middle of the clip; the interrogator's leg moved too quickly due to poorly thought about filming and due to the fact that it was the first time we had used an editing programme.

We have also learnt the importance of keeping the camera and the tripod on a flat surface to ensure that the shots are straight (unless having a canted angle shot), this makes the footage look neater and also makes it easier whilst editing as if jump cuts are needed, it makes the shots look neater and less noticeable due to the straight frame.

Due to updated editing programmes, we have also been able to include sound effects which have improved our final opening sequence, for example where dialogue has been drowned out by surrounding sounds; we have layered sounds over the top such as screams or sounds to show suspense.

Another thing we have learnt during this time is how to layer a soundtrack over the top of a clip and making sure that the volume and pace is right in the different parts of the clip e.g. turning down the volume of the music when there is dialogue and making sure the tempo is quick when the characters are running.

Evaluation Question Six

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


We feel our whole group has learnt so much about the different ways in which we can use technologies. Going into this project we had to learn how to use completely new computer programs which at first were quite confusing. We all agree however that our skills using the programs, tools and filming equipment has improved greatly and we have learnt a lot from this project.

To film our project we used three different cameras;

1) Nikon Coolpix P520 Bridge Camera

This camera records in full HD, has a fairly good microphone to pick up the actors voices as well as produces 18.1 megapixel pictures which we thought would give our project a crisp edge and a professional look.



2) Panasonic HC-V720                                                         3) Panasonic HC-V520

These cameras also produced full 1080p HD films and had good microphones, all three cameras
picked up outdoor lighting very well too which was especially convenient as our filming location was in the woods.


Tripod

In order to achieve steady footage with a professional quality we used a standard tripod. It had ajustable legs and a spirit level so when the forest floor was angled, we could still be sure that we were getting good framed and still shots.














Editing

When it came to editing our project we used an apple mac computer and its very many programs.This was new ground for all of the group as none of us had any previous experince with these computers and we had to learn to a whole new way of using the computer. This was not a problem, after practicing a bit we all got the hang of using the Mac and we all feel pretty confident now.

To create the intial production logo we used photoshop and fireworks to edit the text colour and make it the right size etc. These can be quite complicated to use at first but we soon understood how to do the things we needed. For example, we knew how we wanted our logo to look and in order to achive this we had to completely transform the original and this meant knowing how to use the program well enough.






















After we created the logo and had it exactly how we wanted, we then wanted to animate it, combining it with a specific background, a pulse movement and an audio clip. For this we used Final Cut Pro.

For the final editing of all out clips to put together our film opening we used Final Cut Pro. This is relatively new software and did everything we required and gave us a lot of creative control around cutting, transitions and effects.We all liked using this program.

For the text/titles over the opening sequence we used Motion.

Evaluation Question Five

How did you attract/ address your audience?

Through the use of the story line:
We all believed that the story line of our opening sequence would attract a younger audience. The story line is based around two young girls being followed into the woods by a scary- looking woman. In the opening of the clip we show two friends coming back from a party in the early hours of the morning, which relates to most young people.

We also thought that the use of a scary villain- like character would attract the younger audiences as most horror/ thriller films are popular with teenagers.

Through the use of props and costumes:
The props used in our opening sequence also attracted our audience. For example fake blood was essential for our horror film as most films in that genre focus on gore, which seems to be very popular with younger audiences. Also, we made sure the two girls' costumes were casual and trendy to represent their age.

Through the use of location: 
The main filming location of our opening sequence is in the woods, which we knew was a very popular choice of setting within horror films and also popular with young people as it makes the characters look more vulnerable. Therefore we believed this was the perfect place for filming, in order to attract the younger audience.

Evaluation Question Two

How does your media product reprusent particular social groups?

Our media sequence features two teenage girls walking home from a party, the characters shown in the sequence are around the same ages of our target audience. We feel this means the film would appear more to them.

The girls in our film, Anabelle and Lucy are dressed in fashionable clothing, we chose this costume especially to reprusent their social group. They are seen to be part of the 'popular girl' group, shown coming from a party -so they have lots of friends, therefore the audience sees them as socially desirable.

We also took into consideration the dialogue that the characters said, they were engaging in typical girly gossip about a couple back at the party in order to indicate that they are involved in others buisness like the 'popular girls' are usually associated with. We used two blonde actresses which is also common in most sterotypical horror movies made with teenagers in mind, we thought this was important sterotype to follow in order to appeal to the teenage girl audience.

Here you can see a scene shot from the huge movie Scream 4, although the movies are different in the enviroment, the characters are very simular in appearence for example; hair colour, how there is two of them, and they give of a 'popular' demeanour.

As well as the two main characters Anabelle and Lucy, there is the crazy woman. We wanted the woman to appear a little older than the victims. We didnt really base this character around any social group and this is because murders/crazy characters generally in horror films wouldn't usually have a social life as such. Our character does however show simularities to other creepy horror film characters.

Evaluation Question One

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