evaluation

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
At first I was intending to make a more conventional film; I was really inspired by the introduction to Apocalypse Now, I loved the idea of an introduction about someone lost in their own thoughts and going completely insane with a lot of close-up shots. However I realised it wouldn’t be possible to make anything nearly as good as that; after all, Apocalypse Now is such a widely known film, and the actor would’ve rehearsed that scene lots of times.
Our film wouldn’t be the type to be viewed in cinemas; it is more of an unusual art film. It is for a young audience (ages 15+) who prefer ambiguous psychological films which could have a few different meanings. For example, the idea of her sitting in a dark room could be interpreted literally, or it could be symbolic of her mental state, like she is escaping from a prison of her own device. It isn’t a conventional psychological thriller; first of all, the filming in most thrillers isn’t usually unsteady, or intentionally unsteady. Also the lighting changes in the parts where we filmed Louise in the bunker at La Pulente and in the dark room at school. The music is a lot louder than music usually is in title sequences. There isn’t much given away in the introduction, but this is how I intended it to be.

2. How does your media represent particular social groups?
Our film represents a girl in her late teens who is going insane and has felt completely trapped. It is about her escape from this and her new life. It isn’t a typical angsty film about teenagers falling out with their parents and running away, it’s about this girl’s mental journey. Instead of her life spiralling downwards from the introduction, it gets better.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Touchstone Pictures would distribute our film as it is one of several alternate film labels of the Walt Disney Company. Its films are more mature than the films typically associated with Walt Disney. If I could’ve changed the film company now I would; as I think Touchstone Pictures is probably too well-known for a film like ours. It would be distributed by a small film company, as it isn’t the type that appeals to a large audience. I think a company such as Paramount Vantage which produces more art-house films than commercial films.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I really like the first shot of Louise as it goes well with the music; I think it would make the audience want to continue watching. I also think the music draws the audience in at first; it gets rather repetitive towards the end but at the beginning it sounds quite exciting. The shots down the pathway are aimed to make the audience feel like they are exploring this place and trying to find out more about this mysterious girl hiding in a dark room. I decided to rate the film as 15; partly because it wouldn’t appeal to anyone below that age. There would also be slightly disturbing scenes in Louise’s flashbacks of her past.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Before starting this year of Media Studies, I had never used a camera the size of the Canon XL2, and it proved to be difficult to maneuver at first as it is so heavy. I didn’t realise shooting a 2 minute introduction could be so time-consuming; however I can say that I can now successfully use a Canon XL2, after the initial hang-ups of not working out where the record button was located. I’m glad Sophie and I decided not to include speaking in our introduction as it would’ve been very hard to edit. I found the editing on iMovie HD relatively easy, and I think it runs quite smoothly and fits in well with the music. I think the fading in and out transitions from the pathway to Louise work well. Adding the music as a final touch was difficult as I had to edit a 5 minute song on to a 2 minute introduction; I suppose it’s lucky that I chose such a repetitive song.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full?
I think the biggest flaw in mine and Sophie’s production was time management; we got off to a slow start and it was difficult to try and catch up when it came to completing our film intro. I also think we should’ve balanced out the work more as I ended up doing the majority of the editing and filming.
I have learnt a lot in making this production; mine and Sophie’s introduction runs a lot smoother than my initial preliminary and makes a bit more sense. Perhaps that is because I had to film my preliminary about 5 times because it kept getting deleted and I ended up getting fed up. I have also learnt how to successfully turn on a Canon XL2, and shoot relatively steady shots compared to how mine were at the beginning of the year. I also learnt that After Effects (the editing program we used) isn’t as complicated as it looks, and once I got the hang of it I found iMovie HD very easy to use.
Over-all, I have really enjoyed making this production. I think we picked a good location even if it was very far out. Even though our film introduction didn’t turn out exactly as planned, I am personally quite pleased with it.

So far...

I don’t think we have enough time to do the scratchy title effects, like in the film Seven, because it is so time-consuming. If we had more time we would’ve definitely done it because it would suit out film introduction. The intro so far has been edited, however we need to add a voiceover, some music and a few more close-up shots of Louise. We will film those in the dark room with a blue light to avoid the long journey to La Pulente. I think the biggest flaw in our construction was placing the location so far out, as it created a lot of problems with getting lifts there and back.

Sophie and I have written a shot paragraph of what Louise will say for the voice-over. It will be non-diegetic and hopefully we can add some echo sound-effects to make it less comprehensible, as the emphasis is not on what she is saying but the tone of her voice. 

Titles

We have started making the titles for the introduction based on the film Seven, as I like the scratchy jumpy effect. At the moment we have just hand-written some names on to paper ready to be scanned into photoshop and put on to after effects, however typed writing might look neater. 

Tracking

Some of the shots for my film introduction were too unsteady so I tried to track them using a program called After Effects. This worked fine for part of the intro but there wasn't enough contrast in the rest of the shots for them to be tracked. I've decided to leave it and not track anything because it'd look uneven if only half of it was tracked, however I have uploaded part of it which I managed to track; I had to cut a lot out of it and the letterboxes are too wide.  

I think the unsteady effect gives the audience a point-of-view impression as if they are walking along the pathway, which is the effect I wanted to create, even though it would probably look a lot better if it was steadier.

Production so far...

Been to la pulente with Sophie twice to film and the first time we couldn't figure out how to use the camera but we managed to get some good shots done the second time. However the lighting settings on the camera were wrong and some of the scenes were way too bright so we're going to have to re-do some of the shots on Monday 9th. We'll try to get as much done as possible because it's quite hard to get lifts there and back as it's pretty far away.

Filming tomorrow

I'm filming tomorrow at the bunker & need to bring the props and clothes for the actors. I have to bring a rucksack, a torch, a blanket and some old baggy clothes for Louise.. We will be going there at around 12 so it's light outside. If it's raining heavily we'll have to cancel and film on Friday instead.

Filming

Me & Sophie have decided to film next Thursday 29th January, her mum will give us a lift down there at 1 & we will finish around 3. We will probably need one or 2 more days to finish filming however we will decide those dates after Thursday, as we need to find days when are actors are free.
We need to distribute the roles of filming equally sssoooo...
Sophie is going to do the first tracking shot down the pathway. This will be about 20 seconds of the intro.
I will then do the second part of filming, which is a long shot of the bunker ,then a medium shot of the bunker. I will also do a tracking shot into the entrance of the bunker. This will be 20 seconds as well.
Sophie will film the first shot of our actress Louise, which is a high angle shot of her sitting at the end of the bunker holding a torch. She will also film a dutch angle shot of Louise to show that something's not right.
I will then film a low angle shot of Louise to show her worried looking face and a pan shot of the inside bunker.