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'

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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:

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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.

Evaluation Activity 3 – What kind of media institution may distribute your product and why?

Film festivals are often an important place for smaller independent films, as they can be seen by studio executives who may buy the rights to distribute the picture. Two of the biggest festivals are Sundance in Utah and Cannes in France. If the picture was picked up, it would lead to more money given to the filmmakers and also enable more people to see the film if it is shown in cinemas. 

If no film companies wish to buy the film, it could be released straight to DVD, where income would be generated by people buying the DVD or renting it from DVD rental companies, such as Blockbuster.

Another option would be to attempt to sell the film to a television company so that it could be shown as a TV movie. Companies that it could be sold to include the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky. There would be more viewers if the film was sold to a terrestrial channel, but Sky and other satellite channels would be more likely to buy the film as they have channels devoted to films.

Another option would be to upload our video to an internet site, such as Eyesoda and then  people who are registered can watch the films and this will enable us to build up a fan base and for more people to be able to watch the film. The money that people pay to watch the film is split between the filmmakers and Eyesoda.

Why have we chosen our genre?

For our media coursework, my group has decided to make the opening sequence of a film in the crime genre.

The reasons that we have chosen to do this genre are:

• We all enjoy watching this genre of film
• We felt that we would be able to create an effective scene which would engage the audience
• By doing research, we discovered that more people enjoy watching films in the crime genre than any other genre

Evaluating our preliminary task

For our preliminary task, we were asked to create a short film of a character walking into a room, having a short conversation, and then leaving the room. The sequence had to include match on action and shot-reverse-shot and it had to observe the 180 degree rule.

My role in our group was as the director and cameraman. For this I had to make sure that all of the shots were framed well and that they made sense so that they could be edited together to create a coherent narrative.

We succeeded in a number of instances of match on action, editing shots so that the transitions coincided with one of the characters performing an action. We did this by cutting between different camera angles as a character walked through a series of doors.

Our shot-reverse-shot was less successful as we only had one instance of the two characters being the focus of the shot, so we only had a shot-reverse. If we were to do this task again, we would have put in a second shot over Amy’s shoulder showing Tim’s reaction to her behaviour.

We observed the 180 degree rule as the camera did not ‘cross the line’ during the conversation between Tim and Amy.

Overall, I was happy with the final result of our preliminary task as we succeeded in carrying out our brief and the cinematography and editing of the sequence made it look more professional by controlling what was in the frame of the camera and removing elements that we thought were detrimental to the quality of the film.

How do blogs give us an insight into modern life?

Blogs are useful for discovering about the modern world as they enable us to easily see the thoughts and feelings of a range of different people with different expertise. This can help us to have more informed opinions on a topic because we are more able to see the different points of view. The fact that professionals in a certain area, instead of journalists, often write the blogs may lead to a more reasoned opinion and one that is more reflective of the truth instead of just the more sensational stories being picked up on for the news and for public consumption.

Also, the fact that blogs exist tells us about the modern world and how people are open with their feelings as they write them down for complete strangers to read. This is a sign of a trusting community, although it can also lead to potential dangers as people are anonymous on the internet, so may do or say things that they wouldn’t in real life. This may lead to people feeling victimised.

On the other hand, it may be that blogs are only written by certain groups of people, such as people with strong opinions on a subject and are good with computers. This may mean that we get a skewed viewpoint if we rarely see a moderate viewpoint on issues or if whole groups of people who are not good with computers are ignored. Also, people may pay more attention to blogs of people who they like or who write in a style that they enjoy, so this can lead to people making up their opinions based more on the person who has the opinion or how it is presented, instead of how they should by weighing up the different points of view and then making an informed decision.

Insomnia opening sequence

The opening titles in Insomnia help to set the claustrophobic atmosphere of the film. This is achieved by a combination of the opressive score; the contrast between the small plane and the wide open vistas; and by how Nolan gradually teases the material through which we see the blood soaking. At first when the viewer sees the blood, they are struck by the strangeness of the shot, but as it is repeated multiple times, the viewer tries to work out where the fabric is from until near the end of the scene when it is revealed that the fabric is from the sleeve of a shirt.

Memento opening sequence

Christopher Nolan uses the opening sequence here to create curiousity in the viewer. He does this by playing the scene backwards, with the polaroid photo disappearing and the bullet going back into the gun. This make the viewer wonder why it is being done, which sets the tone for the film as the viewer spends the whole film trying to work out what is happening. This air of mystery is also added to by only showing part of the tattoo on Leonard's hand, so the viewer becomes curious as to what it means.

Psycho Shower Scene

The hand sliding down the wall and grasping to hold onto the wall connotes the Janet Leigh's desperation as she fights for survival. It emphasises the her helplessness in the face of an assailant who is armed and is stronger than her.

Having a shower is an everyday activity, whichn is not seen as a threatening situation. This therefore creates a sense of shock in the viewer when the man appears and the scene turns sinister. The sound of the shower also obliterates all other sound so it enables the man to appear suddenly without warning of his approach.

An eye is often refferred to as a window into the soul, so this shot emphasises how the character's soul has gone. Eyes are often used to portay emotion, so the lack of emotion in the woman's eye creates tragedy.

About me :-)

Hello!

I'm James and I am currently studying for A Levels in History, Psychology and Law. I am also doing AS Level Media Studies because I want to do a degree in Film Production. 

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