Evaluation question 4

Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

One of the main technologies I used in the construction, research, planning and evaluation was using my Apple MacBook throughout the whole process at home. I have used apple products for a very long time therefore I am familiar with how to operate them. Because I was already familiar with this use of technology, I didn’t learn many new things throughout using the MacBook. Although one of the things I did learn was how to download the steel tongs font for my poster film credits. Throughout the time of working on my project there would be times I was not able to bring my MacBook to sixth form however this did not stop me, when I was at sixth form, I used the school computers to research and plan and work through the production of my project.

Another media technology that I used was the online blog site called Blogger, this was recommended by our media teachers. Blogger was used consistently throughout my project in order to show the progress from the start to the end of my products. I was also familiar with blogger as it was my second year of using it; I used this during the process of my AS media project. I learnt majority of the skills from the first year of using it such as, creating new posts, changing dates/names, creating new pages and the background images etc. Being able to post the process of my work on my blog allowed me to receive audience feedback. The blog was open for anyone to comment under my work however my teachers where the main individuals that would give feedback in order to make improvements on my products.

Google was another major key for my project in order to gather research and planning different stages. I gathered a lot of new information from google such as, theories and general research on existing media products that would help me gain a better understanding for my personal products. I was able to research the history of horror films, when they began to show them in cinema’s, what are the most common conventions, what the main target audience is and much more information that I would not of known if it wasn’t for the access to google.

I also used YouTube as one a technology throughout the use of my project. Last year, at the beginning of my AS media studies project, I used YouTube to watch tutorials of other AS media students, this was to see what I needed to do and how to use certain software’s to complete a product. I always watched secondary videos that where mostly professionally made, to help me get a better understanding and compare the conventions that were used. However, when I came to the beginning of A2 media studies, I began to use YouTube for my own personal reasons instead of watching other individual’s videos. I began to use it to showcase my own products such as my finished film products which were drafts at the time. I also used YouTube to export my own made sound clips onto, which were eventually used for the short horror film.

Prezi, PowToon’s and Slideshare were included quite a bit in my A2 project. Using these websites showed that I was able to use other forms of technology rather than using the simple word document or posting my work straight onto blogger. These three websites allowed me to make my work more exciting for me to produce and for the audience to view. Prezi is one of my favourite websites to use, it allowed me to create a journey with my work, making it exciting for the audience to read. I have used this software in previous situations and with my AS projects therefore I am familiar with how to use it. However, I did not know all of the skills within the use of this website, last year I only used the simple tools. This year I was able to expand my ideas and create my own templates which then made it ‘my’ work and not a template from someone else. Slideshare is more of a PowerPoint website, it allowed me to out my PowerPoints into much more exciting formats. Lastly, PowToon’s was a very fun website to use. It allowed me to create a PowerPoint slide/Short video that included soundtracks and stickers around the pages, to make it more interesting and interactive. This was the first time I had used PowToon’s but it was fairly straight forward therefore I got the hang of it quite fast.

Lastly, I used Adobe Photoshop; I am extremely familiar with this software as I have been using it for many years, at home and at school. I began using Photoshop in year 10, since then I have been determined to expand my knowledge on it and become a professional at using it. I used this software for my poster and review, I used a range of different tools from a simple paint brush tool to a magic wand and edits tools to create different effects on my products. I went to using the same text for both my poster and review, I did this by firstly creating the title with a blood red colour and edits added onto. I then selected and copied the same title from my poster to put onto my review, this is that it looked similar and so that my work was consistent throughout. 

Evaluation question 3

Q3 from rhiiiaaa

Evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 1

FINAL PRODUCTS

POSTER:

REVIEW:

SHORT HORROR FILM:

Review - Final product

Teacher feedback for review - first draft

I changed my review based on the feedback i got from my media teachers. I was told to change the style of the writing; mainly because i was giving away to much of the story line to the audience. Therefore i changed the whole paragraph that was based on the plot, i made sure it was short but effective. I also changed the layout style, enlarging the pictures and writing out more text was effective as people tend to get bored of reading quite easily therefore i made sure i would grab their attention by adding colour and pictures from the film.

Review - First draft

Possible images for horror review

This is the first possible image I may chose for my film review. The main reason I chose this image is because it is one of the main props used throughout the film, which has an important meaning behind it. I also used an edited version of this image for my poster. By having the clowns face in the mirror of the music box, will make the audience intrigued as to what it is. This image as a lot of meaning therefore that is why I may chose to put it as a part of the review. It is an interesting image that will make the audience want to find out more.

The second possible image that may be on my horror review is this image. This shows the music box alongside a phone that looks abandoned; in the background shows 3 young teenagers walking towards these items. This may keep the audiences on their feet as they will be intrigued to find out what happens next as they get closer to the items on the floor. From reading the plot the audience will know their are 4 main characters, therefore the blurred image in the background will make them wonder where the fourth character is.

This picture is useful as it is quite frightening and may scare the audience; this is a pro because that is what horror audience members will be looking for. The clown is the main antagonist therefore from reading the review, the viewers will know what the clown is about to do.

Film review - paper draft

Film review - What have i learnt?

From researching existing film reviews, especially horror reviews i noted down the most important conventions that i would need to include on my double page spread (review), The main things to include are: Name of the director, release date, star rating, cast names, images that show scenes from the film. The written report for the review is usually the negative or positive part of the review. This is where a brief overview of the film is given away but not to much that the audience know everything about the film. 

The main things i have learnt and will apply to my own review is:

• Making sure i have a picture that shows some of the main characters.
• I will include star rating to show how good the film has been rated.
• Information about the director, producer and characters will be posted also.

Conventions of a film review

Review analysis

Final - 'Playtime' horror poster

Second draft - horror poster

First draft - horror poster

                                        

First draft poster - planning process

Film poster - title ideas

These are different title ideas for my horror, film poster. I designed five different titles that i thought may go with the 'clown' theme. Each title is white writing, simply because i chose to have a black background with the image of the clown embedded on. The colour white went well with the rest of the poster, as it matched with the credits at the bottom showing the clear contrast. 

I chose the first film title for my horror poster. I chose this one because it looks most scariest, the font looks like it has been scratched into the page, linking to the clown and killing/murdering. 

The reasi

Film poster analysis

Film Title: Dead Silence

Genre: Horror

(Related to my film genre)

Film Title: 21 Jump Street 

Genre: Comedy/Action/Crime Fiction

Film Title: Grown Ups

Genre: Comedy

Final film product - 'Playtime'

Third draft - film feedback

Playtime:

• Its a bit of a quick transition from the titles at the beginning to the start of the film.
• Cant hear whats been said, the wind is too loud. 
• The conversations go on for too long.
• The sound and tying of the shoe lace doesn't link. Could the sound come up with the balloon instead.
• You need the noise of the balloon bursting. The clown is still too obvious? Can you blur it? Why is he not trying to get away? Could the lamppost be in the way as he tries to get away?
• The flashback with the scream needs to be more prominent. 
• Clearer shot of the grabbing of the knife off the wall and the axe coming down. Its too quick.
• Axe attack is not very clear, when he's hit, blur it again like you have previously. 
• The water scene needs to be clearer - what is happening?
• More sound/noise needed when Rajan's being attacked to contrast this with the bird sang. 
• Vj ordering the taxi - The sound doesn't fit. He needs to be more panicked and a sense of urgency needed. 
• Get rid of the shot after he's got into the car. The door should shut and then jump to him in the back of the taxi.
• Vj needs to be scared and the taxi scene needs to be seen as a safe haven momentarily fulling us into a false sense of security. 
• The two clowns that come out of nowhere, it needs to be evident that there's two clowns from the start of the film otherwise it makes no sense. 

Third draft - unedited scenes

Final - horror film

Second draft film - audience feedback

I have gathered feedback for our second film draft and my first draft for the horror poster, from a range of different audiences. This was done so that our group could have some information on how our film went well and what we can do to improve it.

This image is from snapchat. It shows feedback for my first draft, horror poster. It is mostly based on how i can improve the poster for it to stand out more and look more effective/scary. 

This image is off whatsapp. It is feedback for my first draft, horror poster. 

Second draft - horror film

Second draft - new film plan

New Film Plan:

From the feedback we received from our teachers further filming will need to take place. The scenes that will be re shot are the last scene of Hammad entering the taxi and here we are planning to implement a further story line. The second scene that will need to be shot is the clown’s actions. This is because from our feedback the clown was shown too early and therefore was not as successful as thought. By having shots and camera movement of the clown these will be discrete and can be easily edited in to the film. The people required on the day will be Jogesh as he is the clown in the film, Hammad as his scene is the one which will be revisited and Vijender as he is equally responsible with Jogesh in Camera angles/Editing. The duration of this process shall only take 45 minutes maximum as the clowns acting will take 5 minutes. By Hammad’s car scene taking place again several car shots and head movements will take time and planning therefore 30—45 minutes is sufficient enough. The props needed will be the Clown’s full outfit, machete and the borrowed car of Chris (external friend).

First draft evaluation - horror film

Evaluation:

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

From watching previous horror films, I realised that the most common shot in the film are 'shot reverse shots'. They are usually linked to when the protagonist is looking for the antagonist; creating suspense and tension to the film which is the aim of a horror film. Therefore I knew that using shot reverse shots would make the film much more interesting and create suspense for the audience to watch. However, I knew that more than anything scary music over the scenes would make the film most scary and create the most tension.

How did you find the filming process?

Most of the filming process went to plan however there was a couple of times we had to change the dates due to weather conditions. Vijender and Jogesh were able to complete the editing and camera angles whilst Helena sorted out the mise en scene and made sure that all locations where sorted out as well as the costumes and lighting and I was able to get the sound all together.

There was times we couldn't accord to the film schedule because of the weather conditions outside and considering the camera and the conditions we that would be suitable for out film. One of the days it was raining, icy and cold; we had to consider that the camera could break with the rain, it was dangerous for us to film and act on icy floor and also not being able to concentrate outside in the cold.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

The questionnaire that I put together helped me to gather a rough idea of what the audience would of liked to see. Also making sure to go with what the majority of the audience think because they are the main people that would potentially be watching the film. I found that the age of audience was around 16 to 20 that would most likely want to watch a horror film. We based our horror film on what the audience would rather prefer, for example: choosing the jack in the box for one of the main props because that is what the audience selected the most to be in the film as they found it would be most effective.  

How did you incorporate a range of media technologies within the research and planning stages of your film?

On my blog and throughout my work, I have used more than one use of media. For presentations, summaries, posters, diagrams etc. I used powtoons, prezi, photoshop, youtube and emaze.

This will also bring the attention of more audience members as they wont get bored of the same use of media technologies, they will see a range of different uses and be much more interested. I found it easy as I have used these uses of technology before.

EBI and WWW:

What went well -

• Mise en scene: 
• The use of props where used appropriately such as: Clown costume/mask, music and the balloon.
• Scenery: We filmed outside which was effective as it was dark and gloomy which showed the conventions of 'scary' in a horror film. 
• The lighting as good as it was clear to make out what happened in each scene. 

Even better if -

• In some scenes you can't hear the characters speaking, the sound is not clear therefore we will add voice overs to make it clear to the audience what they are talking about. 
• The fighting scene of Hamad and The Clown - this scene needs to change as it takes away the conventions of a horror film. There are a few scenes that jump and don't follow each other from the previous scenes. 
• When Myles pops the balloon, we should put a pin in between his hands so that it is not obvious that he is popping it. 
• Every scene that the clown appears in, we shouldn't reveal too much, instead of the showing the full character, we are going to show different bits of the costume so that we can build suspense for the audience. 
• Remove the sound of VJ saying 'go' before each scene. 
• We are also going to change the scene when Hamad is ringing and getting into the taxi as it doesn't really make sense. Instead - he will be breaking into a car that is parked on the side, to find the clown sitting in the back when he is driving and looks above into the mirror.

First draft scenes - horror film

First draft - horror film

What i have learnt

What have I learnt?

The main purpose of a Horror Film is to generate a sense of fear, fright, tension and alarm for the audience to feel. I also learn that camera shots, angles and movements can also build up a suspense to frighten the audience. For example, A bird’s eye view/High angle can be used to make the character look completely powerless and defenceless. Another shot that creates suspense is a tilted angle, these shots add a lot of dramatic affects, the audience can see this as the camera being moved or pushed to the side. As well as this example, a tilted shot could also be a victim that is on the floor looking for help. Another important part of horror films is sound. From watching several different horror films, I realised that if there is no sound, the horror films will not be effective. For example, sharp noises/sounds will shock the audience and make them jump. Another suspense that is created from sound is voices; for example, a young child’s scream can create confusion by alarming the audience.

We choose a ‘clown’ based filmed because around the time we filmed the scenes was the ‘killer clown craze’ that made it much more realistic and scary for the audience to watch. We also researched this and realised it was one of the most popular films to have been watched therefore we brought the correct props and filmed in suitable scenes for this film. 

How will it help me?

Gathering all the information that I researched, will help me and my group to produce and finalise our film. I used the camera angles from other films to apply to our own film; a close of the clown’s face is one of the main scares in the film, this is when the balloon pops and the clowns face appears behind it to kill one of the characters. The research has shown me a wider understanding on how to make certain aspects of a horror film more interesting and terrifying for the audience to watch. Throughout the process of making the horror film, I have changed ideas and opinions on different sound and locations to be a part of the film. From research and discussing with my group, we changed our first idea which was to create a paranormal film to creating a clown horror film as we decided it would be much more effective in terms of the audience that will be watching the film we produce.

How have I learnt this?

By gathering all research and information that I learnt from analysing each horror film and watching different horror films during lesson time, I grew more knowledge on how horror films are shot, directed and produced. From these different aspects I learnt the different horror conventions of different films.

Film Ideas