Evaluation Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The preliminary task has proved extremely useful and beneficial in the way it has taught me the basics to making a small film, from varying the shot angles, to understanding that to fundamentally convey a realistic conversation between two people, you must follow the 180 degree rule.

Planning

The planning element of our mini 'film' took between 10-15 minutes with only thought into narration and the type of shots we were planning on using. From there we sought out a room purely based on whether a class wasn't in it, allowing us to use the space freely, without interruption. We did not get permission for this which is something that was necessary to have in order to film our supernatural opening and shows me already that there were many flaws with the planning the preliminary task. Looking back on the preliminary task i think that if we had planned the film more thoroughly to look at mise en scene and what reading the audience would have had as a result of this, our mini 'movie' would have been much more effective and higher in verisimilitude. For example, in relation to costume, if the group has access to clothing such as formal attire then this would have helped to establish the roles and power of the characters as being high, whilst if we changed it so that i was wearing a suit (icon of power and wealth) and Indya wearing baggy jogging bottoms and a dirty top then the audience would be likely to get a different reading. Furthermore, we used the school as our location with the history classroom as the setting. If we'd have planned further we may have chosen to use the room to show Indya as being a history student, but since we were trying to make it look as if she was going into an interview, the location didn't give the audience the reading we would have wanted them to have, thus it doesn't help to establish the preferred reading. Lighting wasn't an issue for us when we planned the movie and neither was it something we thought about but it should have been a priority for us to give thought to in order to think about creating the right atmosphere for our mini movie. Additionally, the team work made to plan the mini movie wasn't made with the full input of every member of the group and so work was more weighted on the individual which means that in terms of planning, our teamwork wasn't effective.

Production

When producing the mini movie, teamwork was more effective when we shared the roles to use the camera and in giving our opinions on how the shots should look.

Match on action: door knob turns=door opens

In the shots to the right you can see that in doing the preliminary task we used editing techniques such as match on action, providing the audience/viewer with the perception that they are involved in the film because they are closely watching the actions of Indya, walking into the room. Match on action is effective in also creating the mood e.g. more frequent shots following someone's actions such as in our video 'Introducing Jimmy' adds suspense to what's happening in the scene. Furthermore it provides continuity in the film.

Match on action: Indya opens and closes door

Example of shot-reverse-shot & the 180 degree rule

As said before, the preliminary task gave me the knowledge and understanding that in order to create an effective sequence, whereby the actors exchange dialogue, you must use the 180 degree rule and shot-reverse-shot in order to effectively show this and to simply and clearly convey to the audience that different subjects are talking to one another. This video on YouTube is particularly useful in explaining such a rule and how this creates ease and familiarity for the viewer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXZphHOAcFI .

Example of shot-reverse shot & the 180 degree rule

By actually making this video as part of our preliminary task we learnt about the importance of planning and the use of specific camera editing techniques such as with match on action. Furthermore, the process taught me more about teamwork. As a group Sam, Indya, Katy and i worked efficiently to create our mini 'film' with the roles generally equally distributed throughout the group. This allowed the process of making the film to be much more manageable which is one of the deciding factors as to why i chose to work in a group for the filming and production of a supernatural horror opening.


Editing

As a group we decided together what would be better to be used in terms of the typography style for our title and credits as well as how the overall piece should be edited together. Therefore teamwork was generally effective however it wasn't there wasn't a complete equal share of roles within the group making it teamwork less effective. From looking at the mistakes working in a team when editing i made sure to reflect on this before choosing to be in a group to make the supernatural film opening.

Audience

I think i have learnt a great deal more about audience from having done the preliminary task and this helped to build the foundations of my understanding which i then used in order to finally complete the planning, production and editing of the film opening Katy, Indya and i worked on throughout the course of this project. From looking back on the preliminary task i am now aware that simple things such as costume, location and proxemics are important in showing the audience the relationship between the characters in a scene. From this the audience can gain interpret the film and it's plot easily.

Conclusion

Looking back at the preliminary task i am really happy at how we effectively used camera shots to make our 'story' seem plausible and how we could implement the 180-degree rule, match on action and shot-reverse-shot into our work. By doing it i have invaluably learnt the importance of planning as well as the pros and cons of teamwork. Whilst there are several mistakes to conclude from having done the preliminary task, i have been able to evaluate the effectiveness of such actions to avoid the same mistakes in my film opening which is what makes the preliminary task so useful to have completed.

Evaluation Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

*I'd just like to note that i think when i've made reference to our the editing software we used i have written Final Cut Pro when in fact we used Final Cut Express*

Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

I have now added annotations to the video of our complete film opening. A lot of them cannot be read in the time that they last so the video will have to be paused every so often to allow for this. As you read through them you can see that i discuss the shots that have been used to convey the genre to the audience due to the conventions. I have also explained that certain shots have been selected as a direct mode of address for the audience who are made to feel involved in what's happening in our film opening.

A lot of features such as the use of filters and specific selection of camera shots, as well as choice of location and props have been developed in order to attract our audience through establishing and giving them the reading that this is a supernatural horror. The annotations explore this a little bit more also.

In terms of our unique selling point, i think the doll is certainly significant as it justifies Suzanne's actions she takes before finding the antagonist but then it goes without saying that the music is definitely our USP for it is integral in building the right amount of tension for the audience. It begins instantly, giving our audience the reading that our movie is a horror. It also grabs their attention as an audience and this provides the sense of suspense and tension which is what attracts most young adults to horror movies (particularly supernatural horrors where the music can be associated with a number of paranormal activities that alert the audience to anything out of the ordinary whilst also fearful).

Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Profile

Name: Uma Fitzgibbon 

Age: 19

Where does she shop? Clothes shops like Topshop and Ralph Lauren.

What music does she listen to? Drum & base, trance and any other up-beat songs.

Favourite movies? Disney & comedies

Favourite TV programmes? My Mad Fat Diary and Towie.

Preference for horror films? Supernatural horrors

Uma is a perfect example of our film's target audience, young adults. Here i have gained a profile of her interests that is useful in showing whether her taste in music and shopping relates to her taste in films. As it happens, despite favouring many Disney and comedy films, she thoroughly enjoys watching horror films that are based on the supernatural, rather than gory horror films. This is useful in showing that young adults have an interest in watching supernatural horrors and this helps to secure us a profit in our film because we now know that we are nearly definitely guaranteed an audience because of how young people enjoy watching such a genre as ours. Furthermore, Uma is someone who is really good to look at for her enjoyment with watching supernatural horrors as when she was younger she would watch lots of YouTube videos about ghosts and the supernatural. Since she is my cousin i know this because we would do this together. Doing this gave us a thrill and that's why we chose to have young adults as our audience because they will usually watch a supernatural horror because of the thrill and adrenaline it causes to watch.

Audience- primary, secondary & certification 

Our film is prescribed generally to young adults yet we have not limited younger viewers from watching our movie by giving it a certification of 18. If our film was released at a certificate of 18 it would have to be incredibly scary and horror films have been given such a rating because of the level of gore that is shown. Since our opening looks heavily at the supernatural and sinister side of horror it would be inappropriate to give it a rating of 18. For this reason our film has a certification of 15. Many of the most extreme supernatural horrors do in fact have a certification of 15 because of how there is huge suspense built for the audience e.g. The Devil Inside and Insidious. Yet The Woman in Black, interestingly enough, was rated with a certificate of 12 by the BBFC which caused great disapproval by the public. Originally the film had been made a 15 but after more graphic scenes had been cut out it was later given the 12 certificate. Many people complained because The Woman in Black posed just as much tension and fear as horrors with a certification of 15. It's in my view that this rating was given to allow a wider audience the chance to watch the film and produce the most profit for the film. Nevertheless, as to avoid criticism it would be most appropriate to have a certification of 15 for our film.

The primary audience is largely focused on males between the ages of 15-30 along with the fan base of extreme horror film enthusiasts; whilst women with the same age range make up the secondary audience. On reflection this shows that when collecting audience feedback we could have collected feedback from a wider range of people, possibly in their 20s since this would have given our group a rough idea of the amount of tension that's necessary to build fear and suspense for a slightly older and more mature audience. Furthermore it would have been even more useful to have gotten horror enthusiasts to watch our film opening since they would have probably been more likely to give constructive criticism on our work to make it an even more effective movie opening.

Evaluation Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

*I'd like to add that in comparison to another film that has been distributed in a similar way to which i think the film should be distributed, a film like Warp's Tyrannosaur is useful to compare to since in looking at it in the PowerPoint you can see that it was a British, independent feature with funding from organisations such as the National Lottery Fund, which is similar to our 'ambition' to have Malediction distributed in such a way. (The preference for Malediction's distribution is explained in the PowerPoint).

Evaluation Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 1: In what was does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Setting & Location

In 8 of the 9 shots that i've taken from our film opening you can see a number of the different locations that we shot our film in. The first is an establishing shot of the supposedly 'haunted' house. The house is is located in the countryside, as an old farm house. It is currently uninhabited and although it's fairly modern inside, the exterior appears, as said, to look old and derelict. This lends itself to support the conventions of a supernatural horror movie that takes advantage of the archaic features of a landscape. In shot 2 we similarly use another exterior, establishing shot of the house to show the audience that our opening/the entirety of our film will be based on this particular house. Whilst it is usual for most supernatural horrors to set the film in an immemorial building such as The Woman in Black (which is set in a desolate, yet grand Victorian house, surrounded by marshes), there have been many modern supernatural horrors that use a modern building instead e.g. Insidious. However in reflection, the only reason for films such as The Woman in Black, using an old building as the main location for the film scenes is due to the historical context of the movie rather than in doing so to create more tension. It probably would have been an interesting idea to have filmed in a modern house so that the verisimilitude would have been enhanced but our choice to film in an old house is still an effective one since it is a convention of supernatural horrors to do so.

In some of the other shots you can see that the interior of the house is unfurnished which is unusual for many horror films and other genres aike since they use furnishings to create a realistic environment. I believe that in keeping the rooms bare it helps to create tension because the lack of features makes the building appear less like a 'friendly' home although be doing this we are subverting the conventions of a supernatural horror.

Costumes & Props

In shots 4-6 you can see one of the most fundamental props used in our film opening and that is the small doll. This doll, as said before, is over 100 years old which intensifies the tension in our opening because it is realistically old. Dolls have been used in many supernatural horrors since they connote innocence but also corrupted innocence because our interpretation has been distorted as a result of the number of horror films that have demonised the dolls e.g. Chucky. So in using a doll in our film opening we are conforming to the conventions of a supernatural horror movie.

As for costume, the medium close-up (shot 4) of Indya shows that she is wearing a black, smart dress. This connotes power and sophistication. The audience is therefore already given the reading that Indya is playing a character who works in an office job. The fact that we have immediately introduced the audience to a stock character in formal attire rather than someone in more casual clothing shows we a subverting the conventions of a horror movie because very few supernatural horrors introduce a character in such a way e.g. The Woman in Black shows 3 young girls (stock characters) wearing white dresses (of which connotes innocence, purity and vulnerability/fragility). However in The Ring the young girl wears smart clothing (probably school clothing), but the way in which blouse has been undone in an informal fashion and the fact that the skirt is quite short  shows she isn't dressed formally to appear as sophisticated as Indya's character does. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gIuCfnmPQg ) Furthermore shot 4 shows Indya wearing earrings and her appearance, including the way in which her hair is styled, is also very formal and sophisticated which further establishes an importance about her character although she is in fact a stock character, not entirely important. However the clothing choice does help to establish her character as an estate agent (office worker).

In shot 8 you can see that i'm wearing a white dress. This subverts the conventions of a supernatural horror since many films have the antagonist wearing black e.g. The Woman in Black and Insidious. The colour black has connotations of death, impurity, mystery, evil and power. It also connotes grief which can be used to indicate the plot of a film e.g. The Woman in Black mourns the death of her son and takes revenge on the children of other adults. On the other hand films such as The Grudge and The Ring have the antagonist wearing a white dress to suggest purity and innocence in the way a child is represented (suggesting the antagonist is a child) whilst showing that the innocence is lost because of the juxtaposition of this against the make-up and hair style of the character. For example, The Ring has the girl wearing very dark make-up and long black hair that covers her face sinisterly. In our opening my hair is bright in contrast with the environment but the make-up is dark around my eyes, with the hollows of my face accentuated, and then light around the rest of the face to create the effect that i am dead. We do conform however, to the conventions of supernatural horrors in the way that the antagonist is wearing a dress. The stereotypical female would usually wear a dress as dresses connote femininity, beauty, elegance and yet again, innocence. All of the supernatural horrors i have looked at depict a female antagonist in this way to clearly show that the antagonists are women and by using dark colours the power is enforced, giving the audience the reading that the antagonists are far more dangerous than their archetypal appearance as a fragile and weak female character.

Camera work & Editing

At the start of our opening we added slow motion to our shots to enhance the tension and intensity the audiences' fear. This is conventional of horror movies because it builds suspense. For example, towards the end of Insidious' opening you can see that the shots they have used have had the same technique applied to make the audience feel apprehensive. Shot 2 tilts upwards showing a medium shot of the side of the house whilst shot 4 pans to the right, revealing the doll. I think both editing techniques are effective in building tension through the way the shots are very slow and when coupled with the music, build suspense. Shot 6 tilts up slightly also, when tracking the doll as Indya picks it up. This creates the effect of continuous action and makes the audience/viewer feel more involved with the events of the film opening, as if they were in the scene themselves. Most shots vary in terms of whether they are close-ups, medium/ medium close-ups, or long shots but shot 8 is indefinitely an over-the-shoulder-shot which gives the viewer the perspective that they are in the scene with the 2 characters, thus intensifying the fear.

Typography / Titles

Shot 2 and 3 shows some of the text that we used in our film opening. I have already explored the fonts and sizes in previous posts. In shot 2 the text needed to have a shadow put behind it for the text to be seen above the shots where it would be lightest. Unfortunately this text is thus slightly different to the rest of the opening credits. Nevertheless we have tried to keep the text font, size etc. the same as possible to maintain continuity in our film. We chose to use white writing because it helps make the film more haunting and it is also conventional of many supernatural horrors to use white text. I am aware that many horrors might conventionally use red informal and 'messy-looking' typography to reflect the conventions of horror films of which there are connotations of blood. Insidious does this, for example. Our title in shot 9 fades in from black just as the music fades slowly in again. This creates a scarier atmosphere to our opening. The use of the formal, white typography makes the film look more professional and thus gives the film realism and credibility.

A convention of film openings is the credits. These usually include the production company, actors, director and most importantly, the title of the film. Our opening conforms to the conventional title sequence in the way we have an extensive list of credits that are conventional of film openings.

How does the opening set up the story?

In our opening we have a small preamble at the start as a way of introducing the audience to the general plot in which there is a type of spirit haunting a house where nearly 30 years ago a family of four were mysteriously killed. This is a technique that The Devil Inside uses to establish fear within the audience (911 call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGxt1aiBJ8 ). The plot itself is quite conventional of supernatural horrors and so the audience is given the reading that this film will involve the murder of more individuals. In our opening is a close-up of a newspaper article we created, along with a document labelled 'Moors Estate Agents' which helps to establish to the audience that Indya (who is then immediately seen in a medium shot looking down at the papers) is an estate agent looking at the house. Thus the story is set up this way. Finally as Indya's character makes her way into the room with the antagonist in, the audience is then given the understanding that the story is based around this ghostly young girl/woman.

How does the opening suggest the genre?

I have already explored many aspects of our opening that have meant our film opening either subscribes or subverts the conventions of a supernatural horror movie. Many of these aspects include costume, location, props and also special effects (filters).

How are the characters introduced?

Between shot 3 and 4 is a shot showing a newspaper article and document made by the group. Following this is a medium shot of Indya which pans to the left revealing her character for the first time to the audience. It is then in shot 4 that we first see the doll. Even though it is not a character, the doll is substantially important to note down in the introduction of characters, since leading on from the sighting of the doll, Indya's character instigates the introduction between the antagonist and the audience e.g. the camera tracks Indya's movements towards the door where we are then introduced to the antagonist in shot 8 (over-the-shoulder-shot).

Conventionally the characters introduced into a film opening are the protagonists however there have also been films to have introduced the audience to stock characters just as we do in our film opening. So just as we may be challenging the conventions of a film opening we are also subscribing to them.

Are there any special effects?

The only special effects that might be considered to be effects are the filters that we used in our opening. We experimented a lot with the intensity of our filters and whether we wanted them to be darker or lighter for certain shots. Many of the outside, establishing shot have had a darker filter applied to them whilst the inside of the house has a much lighter filter because the lighting was particularly dark in the house (which made lightening the shots a necessity). The use of the filter helps to create a more ominous mood/atmosphere and intensifies the tension in our film opening. The fact we use one also subscribes to the conventions of supernatural horror movies since many use one to create the right atmosphere e.g. Insidious uses a subtle blue filter. Without the filters i don't think our opening would be as effective as it is now in its completion.

I used the Apple Macs to edit the pictures together but to do this i had to use Photoshop- as seen above.