Evaluation Activity 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to full product?

These shots show how our use of match on action has improved from the opreliminary task to the final product. In the preliminary task, we used match on action as one character opened a door and came through it, wheras in the final production we had progressed to using it as a character slipped and fell, leading to her death.

These shots show the different ways in which we observed the 180 degree rule in the preliminary task and in the final product. In the preliminary task, we observed the 180 degree rule within a small room, but in the final product we cut between different scenes and so we did not comply with the 180 degree rule and instead filmed so that the audience would be able to get a better understanding of the positionings of the actors. However, when filming the detectives sitting down we always filmed them from the same side in order to avoid confusion in the audience.

We did not use shot-reverse-shot in either the preliminary task or in the final product as we did not feel that it would be the most effective way to show the dialogue. Despite this, there are aspects of shot-reverse-shot in the final product as we shot the sitting down from a different side to the shots of the detective who is standing up.

One aspect in which we had improved from the preliminary task to the final product is the use of music. In the preliminary task, the music was too loud and overbearing and so it distracted the viewers from what was going on in the screen. We remedied this in the final product by using more subtle music which better complemented the atmosphere that we were trying to create. We also had more appropriate music, using Freeplaymusic.com instead of the music that is on iMovie.

Evaluation Activity 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Our opening scene grabs the attention fo the audience as it starts with an exciting action scene as the girl flees from a killer. The way that we juxtaposed this with the later, more normal scene is similar to the opening of 'Heavenly Creatures', which also starts by cutting between shots of girls running and screaming and more everyday shots. However, our shots which contrast with the action of the girl running are also sinister as they have detectives talking about the killing before we have seen it happen and so create an air of inevitibilty around the murder.

In our opening scene, the killer's face is in darkness, so the audience cannot see who he is. This is similar to many other films in the crime genre, such as 'The Dark Knight', in which there are a number of thieves wearing similar masks and so the audience cannot tell who is their leader. This is effective because it means that throughout the course of the film, anybody could be the killer and by cutting it with the detective scenes, it plants the idea in the mins of the viewers that the killer could be one of the detectives who are discussing the killing.

Although there is one main detective who is the focus of the film, the appearence of a group of other detectives shows the scale of the investigation and emophasises the grave nature of the crimes.  This is similar to the group of detectives who assist Richie Roberts in 'American Gangster'. The lines from the detectives also help to create interest in the audience as they are only given a small line from each detective so they want to know more about them and their characters.

Analysis of stills in 'Great Expectations'

<iframe src="http://edu.glogster.com/glog.php?glog_id=22879001&scale=100" width="960" height="1300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="overflow: hidden;"></iframe>

Evaluation Activity 6 - What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

• Canon mini DV camera - We used this to film our scenes. It was good when there was a lot of light and there was not much action, but when there was action, we encountered some blur and the camera was unable to pick up the picture so well when the environment was darker.
• Tripod - This was useful for keeping the camera still, although for our final scene in a police briefing room the tripod we used did not hold the camera well, and so someone had to hold it in place

Technologies used on the Mac

• iMovie - iMovie was used to edit our film. This was easy to use and it was possible to control many aspects of the video and audio. We could use video effects, such as black and white and slow motion and these were easy to apply. The sound effects were less easy to use as it is harder to layer the audio and to make subtle adjustments as a track goes along.
• Freeplaymusic.com - This is the website that we used to find the music that we used in the film. It was useful as there was lots of music on it and so we were able to find the right music that suited our sequence by choosing the atmosphere that we wanted to create and then being given a list of choices
• Prezi - We used this to analyse the openings of two gangster films. It was useful as you have more control over where everything is than on other similar technologies, such as powerpoint, although we found some bits hard, such as changing the fonts and colours of the writing
• Glogster - We used this to create a poster which analysed stills of the film 'Great Expectations'. It was useful as it is easy to annotate the stills and the fonts were easier to control than on Prezi
• Facebook - We used this to get photos of girls who had previously been murdered and this was easy to use
• Memory stick - We used this to  transfer pictures and audio between computers, such as our scream sound effect and this was useful as it enabled us to work on different aspects of the video on different computers and then easily combine them for the final product
• Youtube - We used this to get the openings of crime films, which we then analysed and used them to get ideas of how we could make our video effective. This was useful as the videos were easy to find and then could be easily imported into blogger
• Blogger - this was used to upload our work to the internet. it was easy to upload videos and posts from a variety of different sources and it was simple to arrange things on it and to create a unique look to the blog

Evaluation Activity 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The title of our film is '21 Days'. We chose this because it foreshadows the themes of the film (a killer who kills every 21 Days) and it is also a genre trope of crime films, with a time in the title, such as '88 minutes'. The font is basic because from our research, we found that simple fonts are often used for the titles of crime films.

We used a setting in the woods because it is secluded and so it becomes feasible that someone may be killed in the woods without anyone seeing anything. This creates a sense of dread as we know that the girl will not escape. This establishing shot places the characters in the woods and this is important as with the rapid editing this may not be clear otherwise

This shot shows the costume that we used for the killer. He is dressed in black because this gives an impression that he is mysterious and dangerous. The prop of the knife emphasises that he is going to kill the girl and not just attack her. The worm’s eye shot forces the viewer to empathise with the girl and put themselves in her shoes. A scream is overlaid over what is happening in order to make it clear to the viewer that the girl will be murdered

For this shot, someone ran along with the character as she fled from the killer. This handheld camerawork which is up close to the character makes the audience identify with her and feel worse when she dies. It also emphasises the disorganised nature of the killing - this is an opportunity killing and not something that has been planned. Editing this shot so that we only saw a bit of it kept as sense of mystery as we do not have time to fully take in what is going on.

This scene in a police station, with one detective giving a briefing, sets up the story of the film by explaining previous events and introducing some of the characters who will have important roles within the film. It also sets up the genre of the film as these briefing rooms are used in a lot of crime films, such as 'L.A. Confidential'.

We put this shot at an angle to emphasise that this is not a normal situation and this creates tension as it goes straight in to the middle of the action, without explaining how the characters got there. The use of slow motion emphasises this feeling of abnormality.

The titles of the names of our actors take up the whole screen. This creates tension by holding off the reveal of what will happen. This holds the audience’s attention and will get them to want to carry on watching the film. The names come in and are a different colour and this stops them from just being boring, although they are not too exciting that they remove people from what is happening.

Rapid jarring cuts are used in this sequence to make it uncomfortable for the viewer to watch. The musical sting as the girl slips is very different from the other music used and this highlights that the moment is important and that it leads to the murder.

A zoom is used to create a sense of action and to symbolise that things will happen because of what this character is saying. It is also a reference to other films such as ‘GoodFellas’, in which a rapid zoom is used when the characters say or do something important.

Evaluation Activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups

This shows a detective who does everything by the book and is very good at doing his job. This challenges the stereotype of young detectives in crime films as most are shown as mavericks, such as Riggs in Lethal Weapon:

However, there is also a tradition of showing more senior policemen as being more responsible and so we are subverting this as the responsible policeman is young. An example of an older, more traditional detective is Detective Somerset in Se7en:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In our film, the girl was presented as a helpless victim and this is similar to many horror film, such as The Evil Dead, where the female characters, such as Cheryl are underdeveloped:

However, some horror films subvert this stereotype, such as the character of Sidney Prescott in Scream, who complains about the fact that women are always portrayed in this way in horror films:

Evaluation activity 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

• 15-30 yrs old
• The film will have a 15 rating because this will mean that it can have adult themes and content, but does not alienate some of the audience, which an 18 rating would
• Mainly males would enjoy this film, but some females would enjoy it if they are fans of the crime genre
• The target market will be people who enjoy a mystery and suspense as the film will centre around a police investigation
• A film that ours is similar to is Se7en, as it has the same blend of being a crime film, but including some aspects of the horror genre. Therefore, fans of this film may enjoy ours.