Final Cut

This is the final cut for my film opening of, Hidden. Enjoy! :)

Evaluation

After we had finished our film opening and were happy with our final cut, we then had to start evaluating our work and decided what we thought went well, what we learned and what we could of improved. We were given 7 evaluation questions to answer and explain.

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

We have used a female antagonist and protagonist in our film which is un-stereotypical of a thriller film and goes against the conventions and usually in thriller films the female characters are seen to be the victims in the story. This will keep the audience interested, as it will be different to what they expect from a thriller film. A female character has also been used as the protagonist character, which is again quite usually for thriller films and will again make the film different and stand out from others on the market. This use of primarily female cast gives the films its unique selling point and makes it highly unusually for this film genre. However we used a female character as the victim in the opening sequence. This contradicts with the point before as a female victim is very conventional of a thriller film.

Most thriller films use majority non-diegetic sound as a way to build suspense and tension for the audience. Thriller films use diegetic sound a lot more frequently and only in order to make a strong impact. We follow this convention quite closely in our media product.We have included a non-diegetic soundtrack that adds suspense and mystery to the film which helps develop the thriller genre and typical conventions. The soundtrack has been included from the beginning of the opening until right near the end. The diegetic music does change towards the end to match in with the change in mood of the opening. The use of diegetic music in the background is typical of thriller films, as they use the music as a way of making the film more interesting and also to reinforce and develop the atmosphere trying to be created.

Low-key lighting is very conventional of most thriller films and therefore we decided to use it in our film. We tried to make it seem like the film was happening at night time, as we felt the dark atmosphere would make the opening fit better with the conventions of a thriller film and help create a level of suspense. We wanted low-key lighting to make the audience feel tense and make the opening appear eerie and spooky, which would then have linked with the typical expectations the audience would have of thriller films. However, due to our limited filming schedule, we filmed during the day and our editing software would only allow us to darken the shots to a limited amount. This meant the lighting of our film is not as low-key as we would have liked.

Throughout our film opening, we used some very unconventional camerawork and shots, such as a hand-held shot at the end, over-head tilt and restricted view shots. These unusual shots helped to keep the audiences' attention, as they heightened the suspense and tension of the opening. The variety of shots used made the film more interesting to watch. Also unusual shots follows distinctive thriller conventions by adding an enigma code, as the audience are not quite sure what it happening at all times and their attention is taken and moved around a lot, changing angles and shot type throughout. This then leaves the audience with questions, which is very typical of a lot of thriller films.

We used a deserted and closed-in location to build on the conventions of a thriller film. The location of our film was in a quiet part of Downham Market and therefore there was no-one about. This made the location seem more eerie and mysterious. The location started out quite open, as it was near to a main road, but as the drama and suspense of the opening developed, the location became more closed in. This added to the suspense and mystery of the film, which then links in with the typical conventions of a thriller film.

 We used diegetic sound at the end of the film opening in the form of heavy, panicked breathing, footsteps and a high-pitched scream. This added drama to the film and emphasised the idea of the female victim. This follows the conventions of a thriller film by adding suspense and violence to the opening. The diegetic sound at the end, made the film seem more realistic. The diegetic sound would have developed the idea of violence, as it was clear something bad was about to happen. As violence is usually a key theme of thriller films, this followed the typical conventions used.

The graphics used in out film opening were quite convention of thriller films, as thriller usually have a weird and slightly abstract font style, with text that moves about and looks slightly weird on the screen. In our opening we took inspiration from the titles from Se7en, which used the idea of jittery text moving around the screen and a quirky font. Also the use of numbers in the title was taken from Se7en. Our graphics at the end of the opening jump around the screen creating a level of tension and anxiety for the audience, which links in with the thriller genre and therefore makes it clear what type of film it is, which will then help to attract the audience. The jittery text and number style will create an enigma code as well, as the audience will be unsure of the significance of the numbers on the narrative. 

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

Our opening represents females as being the victim, vulnerable and in need of help. The female character is the one in danger and in the end she is the one who dies/is hurt. The representation of females is very stereotypical and particularly of thriller films, as the females are usually seem as victims rather than heroes.

Our film as a whole, contradicts this as a female is the protagonist which represents females as being the heroines and the more powerful gender. This representation of females is very unstereotypical of thriller films, as it is usually the male characters that are made to be the heroes and females are the ones who need to be saved. This gives the film its unique selling point and makes it more appealing to the female audience. Also we have a female antagonist which represents females in an un-stereotypical way by making them as the villain as well as the heroine.

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

I think our film would be produced by a British independent film industry such as Film4. It would be a small scale production, only be shown in UK cinema and would not appeal to a wider audience. This is due to it being a low budget film. The location used is very localised and is not recognisable globally. This means the audience would not reach people outside the local area. Also the limited budget for the film means that the cast members would be unknown actors and therefore would not attract the wider audience. The film opening has no special effects and the graphics are quite simple. This means the opening is not very dynamic or particularly interesting in terms of effects and use of technology. The camera shots are basic and simple, due the low budget and limited technology, making the film appear very independent.

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

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience for our film would be a primary audience of 15-24 year old females. This is due to the unique selling point of a female cast. Females have been represented as the protagonist characters, which is unusual for thriller films and will attract the female audience. Also the use of technology in the form of mobile phones will help attract the younger audience, as they will be more likely to relate to character and be familiar with texting. The character used in the opening is a teenage girl and therefore a similar is age and has similar interests to this audience, making them more likely to watch the film and be interested in what happens to the character.

The secondary audience for our film would be 15-24 year old males. The males would be attracted by the thriller genre, as it is usually the males audience that thriller films appeal to, due to the themes of violence, suspense and action. The use of female characters would be reason why a males audience may be attracted to the film, as the females would be seen by the males as objects of the male gaze.

Our test screening was done based on this audience, with people of the same gender and age as the audience we are hoping for. The feedback we received from them was very positive and they said they liked the effects and the camera shots. The audience feedback also showed the use of sound was effective in creating the right mood. This shows that our film opening was quite successful in attracting the right audience. Also our test screening highlighted some aspects such as the editing and lighting that our audience thought could have been improved and this helped show what we needed to improve to attract the audience further. 

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

When constructing our film, we learnt certain editing skills using the editing software, such as adding low key lighting to shots. Before editing our opening, we were unsure how to change the lighting of certain shots and how to add darkening effects to the shots in order to create the right lighting required. By trying new buttons and techniques on the editing software we were able to learn how to do this effectively and edit the lighting to how we wanted it. I faced problems using the editing software, Adobe Premiere Elements, as the programme kept spontaneously closing without warning, meaning I kept losing some of my work and we had to keep redoing things again and again, which became very frustrating.

I also learnt how to handle and use the camera, which is something I have not done before, therefore this experience helped me understand how to use it and how it can create certain effects and the desired atmosphere needed for the thriller genre. I faced problems when trying to get shots steady when using the camera, as my hand was shaking and I couldn’t get the shots as steady as I would have liked.

I also made use of the web 2.0 when completing my coursework. The web 2.0 was very helpful during the planning stage of my film opening. This was through my use of websites such as you tube and IMDB, which are well known websites, that show videos and give rating of them. This was helpful as it was a way for me to see what the successful thriller films did to attract their audience, and then took inspiration from their openings to help create ours. For example one of the most popular thriller films for a lot of people was Scream, due to the enigma code created and the conventions used by the opening to create suspense and draw in the audience, I found this out on imdb and then watched the opening on youtube. This opening then inspired my film as well. I did a similar thing with the Seven graphics at the end. This show the impact synergy had on my media products. Also the internet is a powerful tool with regards sourcing my music for the film and also trying to reach my target audience. I will be able to use the internet and facebook/twitter etc to engage and attract my target audience as the younger audience is very much more focused on the use of the internet, making the impact and influence of the internet even stronger on my media product.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the prelim to the full product?

From our preliminary task, we learnt how to improve editing and make the continuity editing of our film smoother. In my prelim task the continuity editing was a bit rough and the film didn’t flow together as well as it should have. Therefore I took that experience into my opening and tried to develop the editing further, so that the opening did have continuity editing and had a smoother flow to the viewing. Without doing the prelim task I would not have known how to develop the idea of continuity in my shots, therefore this was a valuable experience for me.

We also learnt how to get rid of unwanted diegetic sound that occurred during filming. In the background of my prelim task there was a piece of diegetic sound which was a mistake and was not meant to be there. When completing the prelim task I did not know how to remove the unwanted sound. However I have now learnt how to do this and this has in enabled me to use this on my final piece to delete some of the diegetic sound in my shots. This meant that my opening looks and sounds better than the prelim.

Another important aspect we learnt was that the filming didn’t need to be filmed in order and instead we could group together separate shots that are similar or in the same location. This meant we could save a lot of time as it meant more shots were filmed at the same time and we didn't have to keep changing location in order to get certain shots. This was something we didn’t know during our prelim and therefore we wasted a lot of time trying to make sure all the shots were shot in order.