Nancy Smith - Evaluation

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

Generic conventions are the initial thought that you think of when thinking about a certain genre of film, and often define the particular genre. In our film ‘The Hanger’ we have used many typical conventions to tell the audience the genre of our film. For example, the opening title sequence in our film shows a masked figure in a dark room. The figure switches on a radio which then plays the report of a missing girl in the area. The masked figure is a generic convention of a thriller/horror film. The radio report or voice over is also often used in horror films to give the audience underlying information about what is about to or had happened. Another film that uses this technique in its opening is ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ which plays an old police report and video over and within its opening title shots to ideally inform and scare the viewer. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXagxQRVkeE&feature=related)

Also, the setting of our film is a generic convention as the woods is a place that other thriller films have used in their stories. The films ‘The Blair Witch Project’

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu1cTg-xUM&feature=related) and ‘Cabin Fever’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEMgegxLVS4&feature=related) which can be easily set in the that this gives the film a isolated and thrilling feel, which is one of the reasons we chose to use it as the location for our film. I believe that our use of generic conventions shows how similar thriller films have been an influence on our film. Personally, I believe that ‘The Shining’ is one of the main influences on the shots we used when filming our film, which, helped to give our film the overall thriller factor.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In some aspects our film uses stereotypical thriller/horror film characters, such as, the two teenage boys who are the main characters we see in the opening. Most films of the thriller and horror genre use individuals or a group of teenagers as the victims in their films as it creates a bigger sense of vulnerability, as they are younger. The film ‘Jeepers Creepers 2’ uses this stereotypical feature and focuses on a group of teenage school

kids stuck and in fear on an American highway when their bus brakes down and a mysterious figure appears to be taking them one by one. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj1rwFz_ffY) On the other hand, our film has branched away from the stereotypical movie killer idea, as the murderer in our film is a woman. I believe that this challenges the forms and conventions of o

ur film genre, although, it still works in terms of creating that thriller atmosphere as in the opening scene and throughout our film we keep the identity of our killer unknown.

What kind of media institute might disturb your media product and why?

Our film could easily be produced by a major Hollywood studio such as, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Paramount Pictures. As a group, we decided that our production company NJJD Productions would produce our film and the best distributor for our film

would be Universal.

We believe that it would be able to promote our film globally, to a widespread audience, so that we could achieve success in more countries via box office and DVD/blue-ray sales. Universal is also well known for distributing horror/thriller films, such as ‘The Unborn’ and ‘The Strangers’, which is another reason we believe it would be the right distributor for our film. After box office release we would release our film on DVD/blue-ray and then on iTunes. By releasing our film in as many media ways as possible, we will be able to reach a wider audience, creating bigger profits.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our film is people aged 15-30, of both genders. We put an age rating of 15 on our film as it contains mild horror/thriller aspects, that may scare some people.

I believe that our age range and certificate is ideal for our film as it caters for both sexes and a variety of ages, allowing more people to enjoy it. When deciding the target for our film, we looked at similar films and their target audiences. We also looked at the results of the questionnaire we created and found that the majority of people who said they liked all of the common features of a thriller film were aged between 16 and 24. This enabled us to choose a suitable certificate for our film, which would allow the widest range of people to view it.

When we had decided and researched our target audience we knew that we would have to create a film that would thrill them and keep them interested in order for success. The shots we used in our film play a big part in attracting and keeping the audience interested. A lot of the shots in the first two minuets of our film that we created were eye view shots. Part of the reason we chose this type of shot was to make the audience feel as though they are part and present within the film. To keep the audience interested we would carry this type of shot on throughout the rest of our film, keeping the thriller aspect present at all times. Another thing we used in the opening and would use throughout the film is the masking of the killer. This means that the audience never sees the killers face, creating the element of the unknown. Many other thriller and horror films use this technique to attract their audience which I believe would make this expected of our film. By doing this, we have addressed and created the needs of our audience.

What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?

Personally, I believe that in terms of technology, I have learnt a huge amount about filming, editing and recording whilst creating our film. One of the things I have learnt much about in the process of creating our film is the use of the editing software Final Cut Pro, which we used to edit our film. Before creating our film I had a basic knowledge of the software from previous media tasks. Upon creating our own opening to a film, I have learnt a huge amount more about the software, such as how to record and add a voice clip to our film and how to add effects and titles. I found learning about the software very challenging but now feel confident with the use of editing software. Another thing I learnt during the process of filming was the correct use of a tripod. When filming our scene in the woods we had to deal with a lot of uneven ground. The spirit level built into the tripod helped us to get a level shot, even though the ground beneath was extremely uneven. I also learnt that for some of the shots in our wood scene, such as the final high angle shots that looks down onto the character Lee Richardson as he discovers the mysterious object in the trees, we would have to try and achieve a still shot without the use of the tripod as it was impossible to set up the tripod in particular areas. Having to improvise with shots like this was very difficult, although as a group we managed to achieve an effective shot. This has taught me that sometimes you cannot always rely on technology and have to be willing to improvise.

Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the procession from it to the full product?

Looking back at our preliminary task, I have learnt that initial planning is one of the most important processes in creating a film. As a group, we planned our film thoroughly before filming to ensure we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve in our final product. We started planning by bringing together all our ideas of film storylines as a group. After about 40 minutes of discussion we had come up with an initial storyline for our film which helped us to move forward onto storyboarding and researching. Because we planned and researched our task properly we were able to move forward with our filming with full confidence that we knew what we were going to do. Another thing that I feel I have learned during the procession of the task is my knowledge of shot types. We used a range of shot types in the opening to our film, which enabled me to try a range of different filming angles, lengths, etc. Before going out to film, we created a detailed shot list so that we knew exactly what we had to film. This process of planning helped us to easily and efficiently film our shots. I feel that one of the things I could improve on is creating a further understanding of the use of the camera we used to film. I feel confident with the use of filming a single shot, but struggle to rewind and review previous shots confidently, without the fear of recording over previous filming. This is one of the things I will focus on improving in the next project I am given that requires me to use a camera of this sort. Overall I feel that our end product fulfils our preliminary task, and has been successful. In terms of improvement, there are a few things I feel could be improved if we were to do the project again, although I am extremely happy with the final outcome of our project. I think that our group worked well together throughout the project which helped us to complete the task efficiently and to a good standard.

When we asked a cross section of our target audience to view our video and give us feedback their comments were mostly positive. The audience we asked commented mostly on the setting and editing on our film. They thought our film had good continuity and camera shots, which made it look professional. Another thing our audience thought was particularly good about our film was the music we used. They felt that the music used fit in well with the genre of our film, giving it the Thriller/Horror feel we intended. The full video feedback is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wACEI2abRJ0