Audience Feedback - Yazzmin Ferguson - Dillon, Trisha Opolot, Nathan Lawrence

Overall everyone enjoyed our film they could easily recognise what genre it was. 

Camera angles gave a sense of mystery and uneasy effect.

Older teenagers would be attracted to this type of film.

Good cinematograpghy and lighting because it made it realistic.

Continuity editing sucessful good use of mise en scene, forest location closely linked with thriller films.

Not much sound more sound effects could create  more tension.

Nathan Lawrence

Evaluation By Nathan Lawrence

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

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

4. Who would be the audience of your media product?

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

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

7.Looking back at your prelimary task,what do you feel you have learnt in the progresion from it to the full product?

1. Our product sufficiently meets the conventions of real life media product, i believe it is realistic and effective, in what we set out to do.There is a close-up shot of the text message that she had received. There is also digetic sound throughout the product such as the birds singing, the wind blowing and the wood snapping in the forest. This shows that there is normal everyday things happening. As the girl's father was unable to collect the girl, she had to take the easy way home by taking the short route through the forest. Our media product challenged forms through conventions of real media products by creating tension throughout, as the genre is thriller, the audience were made to believe that someone is following the girl, and certain shots such as medium and close-up are shown of the 'suspect' who is following the girl.

2.Our media product represents young people, from the age of 16 upwards. The product is exciting and easy to watch therefore it relates to this age. The main character is also of a similar age and therefore the audience should be able to relate to the product.

3. The sequence is aimed at mainstream production companies who have experince in producign thriller films. A production company such as DNA films who have made films such as 28 days later which prooved to be extremly poplular amongst young people.

4. The audience for our product would be teens, form the age of 15 to 20, hopefully because it is quite gripping it would be successful in engaging the audience, i think because the main character is also a teenager and the film is set in school it would be easier for the audience to relate to.

5. Hopefully by using the a teenage character and a storyline which would appeal to the audience, i think by also using an appealing story-line it would engage and audience of this age.

6. Throughout the Task i learnt a lot through the duration of the task, firstly i learnt how essential it is to plan the process thoroughly so that any mistake or uncertainties can be rectified easily. I also think that by using the camera, i have learnt a great deal about positioning, using a tripod, and zooming effectively.

Wednesday 22nd April 2009 -Trisha Opolot

Media studies AS Coursework

Evaluation Questions and Answers.


1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
There are many way where our media product uses, develops and challenges forms through the conventions of real media products. This is shown throughout, when the girl is waiting for her father to pick her up from school. The close-up shot shows her facial expression which is impatient and fed up, that her father is late, and she is getting quite worried and anxious. Sound is also used throughout the media product where her mobile phone 'beeps'. This shows that she has a text message , and unfortunately. her father is unable to collect her from school. There is a close-up shot of the text message that she had received. There is also digetic sound throughout the product such as the birds singing, the wind blowing and the wood snapping in the forest. This shows that there is normal everyday things happening. As the girl's father was unable to collect the girl, she had to take the easy way home by taking the short route through the forest. Our media product challenged forms through conventions of real media products by creating tension throughout, as the genre is thriller, the audience were made to believe that someone is following the girl, and certain shots such as medium and close-up are shown of the 'suspect' who is following the girl. The mise-en-scene shows that the girl is in a school as she is wearing her school uniform, and her prop is the folder that she is carrying with her. Also, there are shots and panning of the school buildings and the playground . In the editing, there are quick cuts in the media product to show realism through the media product.


2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product is aimed at young teenagers from 15 years upwards. This is because the main character in the media product is a school girl, so the audience will be able to relate to the character. The media product represents the social group of young teenagers in a negative way as it shows that they are not aware of their surroundings and safety around themselves.


3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The kind of media institution that might distribute our media product would be a film distribution comapny that normally release thriller films for mainstream cinemas because they seem to be very popular with young people today.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
The ideal audience for our media product would be young people from 15 years upwards, where both genders are accepted to watch the film, because this is the target group where thriller is a genre which is particular popular and enjoyable to watch with friends at the cinema.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted/addressed the audience by making the media product set in a school, where most of us can relate to the main character because she is a young schoolgirl, and is an ideal working class character for the type of target audience that has been chosen. Also, knowing how teenager minds are all the same, the target audience will be able to predict what will happen next.


6) What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learned a lot about the technologies from the process of constructing this product, as i have learned how to use a digital camera for filming, and how to to the different types of camera shots such as close-up by zooming in, and medium/long shot by zooming out etc. I have also learned how to use the imovie program by importing the film onto the computer, and using the editing program to cut shots, change the lighting and use different effects.


7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it, to the full product?
Looking back at the preliminary task, i feel that i have learned a lot in the progression from it , to the full product. It has taught me how to be more organized in the planning stage by using a storyboard which makes the filming more easier, as i would know what shots to do in the full product. I have also learned about the use of mise-en scene and how it has a big effect to the genre of the film that is made. I have learned the importance of planning- when it'sapproapriate to shoot certain scenes, and the time management as well, also i have learned the importance of using a tripod and faming with the digital camera as it makes the shots look more professional and clean cut. I have also learned how to use the imovie editing program to use a selection of mise-en-scene shots and continually editing techniques which shows a sense of realism.

Tuesday 21st April 2009 - Yazzmin Ferguson - Dillon

Media Studies AS Coursework

Evaluation Questions

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

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

4. Who would be the audience of your media product?

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

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

7.Looking back at your prelimary task,what do you feel you have learnt in the progresion from it to the full product?



Answers

1.Our media product is the opening sequence for a thriller film. At the beginning of the sequence a medium shows shows the main character a teenage girl looking quickly from side to side she is standing behind a brown door. She begins to walk forward but then walks back to leaning on a brick wall, waiting to be picked up. The close up shots reveal that she is anxious and quite impatient because no one has arrived yet.

The mise en scene shows that she must be at her school as the camera pans out to reveal other buildings and a playground. The diegetic sound that can be heard is the birds singing and the leaves blowing in the wind. This helps to maintain the realistic feel of the atmosphere. The sound of the beeping from her mobile phone signals that she has a new text message. A close up shot reveals the screen of her mobile phone which displays the message from her dad who is unable to collect her from school. With no choice but to make her own way home she resorts to take a short cut through the forest. As the genre of this film is supposed to be a thriller, we intended to build up the suspense when she walks through the forest. In order for this suspense to be created it is essential that the correct sound was used otherwise it would not have the same effect. In this way our media product has develop and challenged forms and conventions of real products because it shows a very ordinary situation of a naïve teenage girl which could be viewed as stereotypical but in many media products this is portrayed in many of the storylines.


2. Our media product represents young people, from the age of 16 upwards. The audience is able to relate to the main character as she is a teenage girl but she is represented in a negative way. This is because she is seen walking alone through a forest and it likely that she is in great danger. But this is what the audience would expect to see as this is the narrative in many films, so this relates well.

3. The opening sequence of this film is targeted for mainstream cinemas as there are many films with a similar narrative. The most likely distributor for this film would be Dimension Films as they have released many thriller films such as Jeepers Creepers and Scream. Both of these films have proven to be extremely popular amongst young people.

4. This film would appeal to all young people between the ages of 16-25 boys and girls would enjoy this film because thriller films are very popular with young people today.It is important that this film does appeal to both genders as it widens the potential target audience.

5. We were able to attract our audience by using the main character the teenage girl someone who they would be able to relate to. Her costume revealed that she was a schoolgirl so the audience immediately recognise her character and are able to make some suggestions about what might happen.



Audience Feedback


Strengths:
• good titles – original and creative looking
• variety of camera shots, mystery maintained when only the back of the mystery character was shown
• good editing – the camera shots flow together well
• diegetic sound helped to maintain tension,
• suitable mise en scene – realistic to the situation

Improvements:

• more sound effects to create more suspense
• quicker pace of sequence so that audience will feel more sense od danger like main character.


6. I have learnt that the filming process gives you the opportunity to leave the camera rolling to do retakes. During the editing process you have the chance to cut out the shots you don’t need and use different types of effects on the software such as: ‘Earthquake’ and change it from colour to black and white. I know how to use the video camera and tripod and how to upload the video unto the computer properly. I also experimented with the Garageband software on iTunes to see how you can make your own music. This software was very useful becuase it has many different feratures sucha s: sound effects and a wide range of instruments. I would have like to have made some music for the opening sequence but we did not have enough time and the software in quite hard to use.

7. I think that this opening sequence is a much bigger improvement from the preliminary task. We have used a variety of shots to make it more interesting and made use of diegetic sound to enhance the verisimilitude of the film. Even though the editing process is probably the most difficult and time consuming I feel more comfortable with cutting out unwanted shots and have become quite familiar with the i-movie HD software. I have realised the importance of including the conventions of thriller films in this sequence as it helps to improve the standard of the sequence. More importantly, I understand that planning is by far the most important as it helps to speed up the filming process. I also think that we could have made it a bit scarier,perhaps we could have filmed later in the evening when it was darker to create a more sinsiter atmosphere. I think this would have been quite effective in the forest location.

27th February: Planning for Filming- Yazzmin Ferguson,Nathan Lawrence,Dillon,Trisha Opolot,

Props- girl will be wearing her school uniform, mystery stalker dark clothes his face will not be seen.

Location/Setting- the filming will take place at school,in the car park,inside classrooms etc

Storyboard- some changes will have to be made to the storyborad

Opening sequence for thriller film,' Taken'.

1. Girl stands at gate waiting for her dad to pick her up.

2.Over the shoulder shot of the mystery stalker looking at her.

3.Her phone rings and she gets it out of her bag.

4.She sees a text from dad saying ' Sorry cant pick you up'

5.She walks back into school.

6.The suspect follows her.We can only see his shoes.

7.She thinks that she is being followed so she looks behind but nobody is there.

8.She walks and meets her friend and they begin to chat.

9.The suspect drops something.

10.The girl hears it and asks her friend whether she has heard the bang,but she says no.

11. CU shot of his shoes walking along.

12. The girl says bye to her friend.

Trisha Opolot- Wednesday 4th February

Gangster Conventions

A gangster film is very similar to a crime film. It involves various aspects of crime and the criminal justice system, and it is developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters. Crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of a crime figure or a crime's victim. Or they glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal, gang, bank robber, murderer or a rival gang.

Settings:

• Dark locations
• Busy cities
• Urban Lifestyles
• The Slums- 'living in poverty'

Narrative:

• Action
• Violence/murder
• Rivalry between gangs
• Comedy?
• Foul language/slang
• Money
• Drugs
• Weapons (guns,knives...)

Characters:

• Gangs
• Individual characters
• Leader of group
• Criminals/drug dealers
• Gamblers
• Victims (innocent or even involved in the crime)
• Gangs from ethnic backgrounds
• The young or old ?

Gangster Films:

• Snatch
• The Godfather
• American Gangster
• The Departed
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

In our group (Trisha, Yazzmin and Nathan), we decided to analyse a gangster film called 'Snatch', and how this film contributes to the different gangster conventions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6YOg8B418

From the opening scene of 'Snatch', there are many points that we can immediately tell that it's a gangster movie, such as:

• The props: there are weapons such as hand guns which are used in the film to attack the rivals.
• There are fighting skills as well to show that there is a lot of action.
• The mise-en-scene starts off with a dark setting- which shows that there is something mysterious that is going to happen.
• The group move around together as a gang- no one is alone, which shows that they are going to start trouble.
• The music when fighting is very dramatic and also there are many sound effects such as throwing objects around and punching.
• They unexpected Jewish folk music which turns into action- very unexpected.

From the credits and the characters of the film, we can immediately see that Guy Ritchie directed the film. This makes us to expect that it will be a very good and successful film. The sub genre of this gangster film would be a British gangster film. as the characters acting are British. Older teenagers and adults would be the audience for the film since the age certificate is '18

Different Film Genre Conventions

Comedy Conventions

A comedy film is a genre of a film, in which the main emphasis is based on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending. Comedy, puts more focus on individual stars, and while many comedic films are lighthearted stories with no intention other than to amuse, others contain political or social commentary.

There are many sub genres to comedy films. These include:

• Romantic comedy which involves the development between a relationship between a man an woman, normally with a stereotypical plot. Some examples of romantic comedy films are, 'When Harry met Sally', 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Pretty Woman'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MqPcOPIgRw

• Action comedy films blend comic antics and action where film stars combine one-liners with a thrilling plot and a daring status. Some examples of action comedy films are, 'Hot Fuzz,' 'Beverly Hills Cop,' and 'Rush Hour.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2q0UTE6swg
• Comedy horror is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes are treated with a humorous approach. These include films like. 'Scary Movie,' 'Little Shop of Horrors' and 'Dead Alive.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cu8ynFSiuM6c

Friday 6th February 2009 - Yazzmin Ferguson-Dillon, Nathan Lawrence, Trisha Opolot

Treatment Questions

1. What are the conventions of your chosen genre?

2. Who is the target audience?

3. Give a brief outline of your main characters.

4. Give a brief outline of your opening sequence.

5. What settings are going to be required?

1. The conventions of our chosen genre are as follows: dark, mysterious location-forest

2. The target audience for this film will be for older teenagers and adults, usually between the ages of 16 and 25, although it would be suited for anyone who enjoys watching thriller or horror films.

3. The main characters are a teenage girl and the mystery stalker.

4. The teenage girl has finished her day at school and is sitting on a wall waiting to be picked up. She receives a text message from her dad saying that he is unable to pick her up. So she decides to walk to the bus stop, but takes a short cut through the forest. As she is walking along the road it begins to get darker. She senses that she is not alone and that someone is following her and looks around cautiously. She panics and begins to walk faster. We see the back of the mystery stalker who has been following her and who is hiding behind the bushes. Suddenly a hand is placed on the girl’s shoulder. She freezes and tries to run away but it is too late. Her mouth is covered but we can hear her screaming and squirming to try and save her life.
5. The settings that will be required are: dark, eerie atmosphere – in the forest, this will establish the sense of suspense and mystery which fits into the conventions for a horror film.