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

Throughout the progression of editing my film, I have achieved and developed different filming and editing techniques since filming/ editing my preliminary task. However some of the techniques i used in the Preliminary task i have reflected on our final opening film. e.g The over the shoulder shot and match on action, also some of the techniques i have used in my opening film have become more advanced e.g tracking shot, point of view. I have learn't all of these shots, through watching different opening of films and seeing what angles they have used to shots, to make the audience more engaged. 

Point of View 

For part of the film, we tried experimenting with point of view shots which will make the audience feel disorientated and attached to the character. The idea of a point of view shot, is putting the audience in the characters shoes; which emphasis's scariness of the narrative. Looking back on my Preliminary task, i have improved different techniques which makes the audience become more attached to the characters and the narrative. I think this shot, shows a clear progression in how i have thoughtful chosen camera angles to give a certain perception to the audience.

                                                          Tracking shot

This is an example of a tracking shot. A tracking shot is when the camera follows are person or an object physically moving with the subject; in this case a moving care. We had to be very careful how we shot this, as we did not want camera shake as it would make the film look unprofessional. This is also a camera shot shows that i have explored different techniques since the Preliminary task, which shows the development of my creativity has improved. Tracking shots are useful to get some movement to footage, and takes the audience along like there personally within the narrative. I have noticed lots of different thriller openings, have used tracking shots to highlight the action of whats going on; which emphasis's the fear of characters. 

                                                                    Match on Action

For the Preliminary task, i used a camera shot of match on action. Match on action is where the perspective of the camera changed during a scene and the scene continues to flow. For the Preliminary task i did a simple task that consisted of someone opening the door and walking through. The Preliminary task allowed me to practice with editing and getting the timings right, so that footage flowed smoothly. I practiced with the camera and tripod, so when it came down to filming the final product i had more understanding of that i was doing and how to edit it.                        

I then reflected my knowledge of match on action, to our opening film however we made it more advanced and it flowed smoother. We used two different examples of match on action, the images above shot the character jumping over a tree. I have developed my techniques, as within the match on action shot, there is also different shots e.g extreme close up, mid shot. This gives evidence that have learn't how to make the footage look seamless, and the Preliminary task helped me reflect back to what i needed to improve on to make it look professional. Additionally i felt like opening film, gives a better and more creative example of match of action. This is due to the location, and how we have edited it to make the footage look professional. Its also more interesting than someone opening a door.

                                                  Over the shoulder shot

On the left hand side the image shows an over the shoulder shot, in our opening film and on the right side the image shots the same technique but from my Preliminary task. I feel like this shots a big progression and learning curve, due to how i have stationed the camera better in my opening film. The preliminary task over the shoulder shot, has camera shake and doesn't show an interesting example of  over the shoulder shot. Additionally i believe that i have learn't how to position the camera better so that the characters are clearly shown with location is as well. Over the shoulder simply allows the audience to see a clear insight of the narrative and makes them feel like there within the narrative. I feel i have included the audience better in my opening film, as it shows them a loose frame which makes them know there surroundings and the narrative becomes more dynamic. 

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

Evaluation 5- How did you attract/ address your audience?

This is the my final footage with annotations. 

Evalutation 4- Who would be the audience for the media product?

Earlier on in my research I used a survey to collect information, to construct a target audience and see what they would like to see. I learn't that most of the audience is male and love to watch creepy/ tense horror films. This inspired me to create a really creepy and tense film; that will appeal to the target audience. Furthermore i believe the target audience is an average male teenager, i concluded the target audience through the questions i asked in the survey.  

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

"An institution company that disperses a media product for audience consumption, in this case as well as marketing. We looked into film institutions that might distribute our film. The company would disperse the films to cinemas, then DVD or on websites such as Netflix and Love Film. The production company we chose was tristar and this company is linked with Columbia which is a distribution company therefore they would be great distributors, the y distribute to countries worldwide.

This company has also distributed, Zero Dark Thirty to a number of countries such as USA, UK, Portugal, Hungary and Italy. Captain Phillips, a thriller and Girl with the dragon tattoo, a mystery thriller, therefore this distribution company would be viable as they are experienced with distributing thriller and mystery films to a mass market and have shown clear success. 

As we mentioned before, our production company is Tristar, we chose this company because in the past couple of years they have produced many thrillers and horrors so this means that they are focuses in that area. A film called The Call was produced by them and after looking into this film i have discovered that it is about a teenager being kidnapped which is what our film is based on, therefore this institution would be best as the have experience in creating thrillers, horrors and dramas. 

A productions company helps to create film and helps with budgeting, casting, scheduling, scripting and more. They hold a lot of responsibility over the film, such as finding cast and crew. The logo for tristar is effective because its stands out and grabs the audiences attention. 

As vertically integrated company, we would gain money for the film by getting other production companies on board, who have the same vision and values with film making. Furthermore, we would target big budget production companies in order to gain the best equipment, our intended production company, Tristar will fund the film or seek additional funding from Columbia. 

Evaluation 2 - How does your media product represents particular social groups?

     Jules from 'Cabin In The Woods'                         Our main character from the opening

The protagonist from our opening film, has similar characteristic to the character Jules from the horror film 'Cabin In the Woods.' This is due to Jules's character being a typical ordinary teenage, similarly to the character in our opening. Both characters represent a typical girl through the use of costume e.g both characters have their hair down, the make-up emphasis's their lips and eyes; which makes the characters seem more attract and therefore a typical women.  They both represent the young female teenagers, of the age of 17-20. This is also through the way camera portrays both characters, both films use long shots and high angle shot, to make the females look more vunerable and weak; which is a stereotype of females. Additionally by representing this part of a social groups, allows the audience identify with characters such a Jules and the character from our opening; making the narrative become and like it could happen to the audience Furthermore Jules is a stereotypical girl that is afraid and doesn't hide it, like our female character. This represents the stereotypical girl, which makes the female aspect of the target audience identify with both characters and become more attached to the narrative. A difference between Jules and our character, is Jules is a provocative character that represents the part of society that has high self-esteem and confidence. This is shown by her being displayed as a sexual object, through the use of revealing costumes. Where as our character is insecure, she represents the part of society that has low self-esteem and is seen as insignificant. This is displayed through the performance as she constantly seems scared and frail. The camera angles complement this stereotype, as we use a lot of close up's to show the fear of the character and high angle show to make her seem smaller and vulnerable. The kind of people that will identify the protagonist is people who are seen as different, they like being by themselves and our also fearful of men. 

Evaluation 1- In what ways does your media production use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of the real media products?

This is the title of our film "Stockholm Syndrome" this is a typical convention of a thriller film. This is due to the red of the title, which possesses the connotations of blood and danger. Also the font of the title is called "Hacked" it's a disjointed font, that holds the typical conventions of something that is deformed and disturbed. However the contrast of the two colours (white and red ) could be seen as challenging the forms of a stereotypical thriller. This is because most thrillers stick to one colour that gives the sense of consistency and structure, however we decided too chose two different colours because it represents the distance of the two character; therefore it complements the narrative perfectly. 

This shot gives an idea of that the location was like, it was a spacious forest with many hidden paths and it was isolated from any built areas. By choosing a forest as a location, it fits into the category of a stereotypical thriller. This is due to the forest being creepy, still and dark, also gives eerie atmosphere. Additionally it is conventional as it has similar settings to horror films such as 'Cabin In The Wood', 'Friday the 13th' and 'The Evil Dead'; therefore it makes our opening look more realistic and professional. However the lighting on the day was unconventional as it was a bright sunny day, and usually the lighting is dim and dreary. However we added an effect on the footage to give it a dark hue. 

The costume we used, was ordinary minimalistic which is often used in a stereotypical horror film. Additionally this is because it makes the audience identity more with the character, which makes the film more scary and realistic. Also this costume fits into the typical attire that a character wears from a horror film, as i made the costume dirty with mud it made it seem more intense and questions the audience; to were the narrative might lead. For the male character his costume was dark colours with sunglasses, which detaches him from the audience, therefore highlighting his power and villainous role. This is a typical attire for a villain, as black connotes death and danger; which leads the audience to automatically fearful of him. 

Throughout our film we captured the footage from many different angles that are often used in horror films. The typical horror film shots and angles, are low angle shots (to make the characters more dominant), point of view shot ( makes the audience feel like its them- intensifies the scariness) and close ups ( to see the fear in the characters face.) For our opening we have used all of those shots, which is allows the footage to be a typical form of a horror. Additionally this is an example of a low angle shot, which emphasis's the creepiness of the tree's and could also be interpreted as a point of view shot. Finally for the editing we have done fast paced shots, which is a typical convention of a horror/ thriller film; as it multiplies the scariness. However there is small parts of are opening that presents slow motion, which is normally presented in action films. However we chose to embed it because it emphasis what's going on and the significance of that element of the opening. 

This is the inter titles of the film, they are typical convention of a horror film due to the colour red; which connotes danger and death. Furthermore the placement of the inter titles is to the right at the bottom, this is not a convention of typical horror film. They are normally placed in the middle of the footage, as it promotes the actors and crew. However we challenged this convention, as we thought the inter titles were better suited on the left because then all of the attention will be on the content of the film.

The opening of the film starts with the protagonist running frantically in the woods, which hints to the audience that the narrative is about a girl trying to escape from something. The hinting of the opening is a typical convention of a horror, as it grabs the audiences attention and it allows them to guess the rest of the narrative. Additionally running is a typical convention of a character in a horror, as it has the connotations of someone running. However as the opening of our film is a flash forward in the narrative of the film, its not a typical convention of a horror film; as its a non-linear structure. Although this is challenges the conventions, we decided to put this in to add our own spin on typical horror film as it introduces something new and creative, to the audience. 

The protagonist is a girl, she is being introduces as a afraid, frail girl who as been through something tragic. This is represented through the way she displays her emotions of her face, the expression is panic and something is terrifying her. This is a typical character for a horror film, a young girl whom is represented as weak and needs to be saved. This screenshots shows the character on the floor, which represents how she has no power compared to the character is fearful of. Additionally the character is also an 'ordinary' girl, which is a typical convention as it allows the audience to identify with her, which makes the narrative more reliable and realistic. The other character we have used is a mysterious man, who is wearing dark colours. He is introduces as a villain, as he is driving a fast car with blacked out windows. This is a typical convention, as the darkness surrounding his character emphasis's that he is the one the audience should be fearful of. Furthermore horror films often use a mysterious man, to keep the audience guessing what his role is in the narrative. 

Throughout our opening we used a different number of special effects to add a dynamic element to the footage. However the special effects we did use challenged the conventions of a typical horror film. For a clip of the footage we used slow motion on a fall, which is typically used in action films to emphasis the performance. Additionally we did this to make the footage more creative and emphasis the fall. Another special effect we demonstrated is we speeded up the car to make it seem like it was going at fast speed; as we were unable to drive a car extremely fast. Although this also challenges the conventions we did this so the car speed suites the narrative better, which built up tension for the atmosphere. However we did use a typical effect on adding an visual effect on the footage, to make the lighting dim and dreary which better suited the narrative and genre. 

Final film- Opening 2 minutes for our film "Stockholm Syndrome"

 This is my final film. Overall i am very pleased with how the footage has turned out. I feel its professional and leaves the audience in suspense making a perfect opening. From the survey i did, i believe i have taken into account what was said which has influenced my film. Additionally all the planning and research has really helped with my film and i have put together a stereotypical thriller however with out own twist. 

(Hide annotations by using the setting tool)

Diary Editing (3)

For this session we experimented with putting together all of the running shots, we had different angles to play with. Furthermore the shots need to be fast paced, to give the idea of panic. We achieved this by putting together lots of different shots, each one consisted of maximum of 3 seconds; which allowed us to fit in a lot of different techniques. Additionally each of us in the group went through the footage so far which is about 1min and 30 seconds and gave our honest opinion of what we should cut out and what we need to improve. Each of us has similar thoughts on that we should speed up some of the shots to make the effect of the video more effective. Also I had the idea to cut a few running scenes as they didn't flow smoothly with the other shots. In this editing time we also planned when we were going to shoot the flashback scene as its a key element of our opening scene and it will expand the narrative to make the audience more engaged. We decided to film the flashback scene at the weekend in a small confined space that gives the idea that the environment is dangerous, and the audience is more intrigued to where the narrative goes.

Diary of Editing (2)

For this editing session we mainly focused on the falling of the character, as it is a crucial part of the 2 minute opening. We started by looking at all of the footage based around the fall. We then started by experimenting with trimming and rearranging shots to see what worked the best. Furthermore for this session we had to really focus on the timing of the footage, as the main element is different angles put together to make the fall seem more realistic. The timing of how rearrange the footage is extremely important as well, as everything needs to flow smoothly. We focused on the trimming of the video, and experimented with several clips to construct a creative video. Additionally for one part of the fall, it has to be in slow motion so we used the slow motion tool to decrease the speed. After slowing the footage down we had to make sure the sound was muted on the original video, otherwise the diegetic sound would have been warped(this applies to all of the footage.) I believe we came out with a successful image, due to the timing fitted well to make the footage seemless. 

Diary of editing- (1)

For the first editing session, me and Ellie decided to go through all the footage we had captured. We then picked the pieces of footage that were the most important elements of the film e.g Me falling to the ground, the car scenes and me running into the road. Furthermore we then looked on Youtube for the opening production company footage, downloaded it and then trimmed it to the correct length we want. Overall the opening institution clip is about 5 seconds long, this makes our opening 2 mins seem more professional and sleek. We then trimmed the opening scene, which was shots of a peaceful forest which creates suspense and drama. We went through all of the long shots of the scenery and clipped and rearranged them according to our plan. Furthermore we then edited an effect on the footage we had just edited, as we came to the conclusion that the natural lighting was too bright which contradicted with the narrative of the film. We used the edit effects on iMovie to create a dark hue, which tinted the footage to grey and dark; which is complements the narrative.

Diary post- The Filming

On the day of filming the weather was bright and sunny, which allowed us to experiment with lighting. We were originally going to film in Richmond Park, but we decided to change to a more local area of Nonsuch Park; which is more a less exactly the same scenery to Richmond Park. Furthermore we started filming at 11:30 then finished at 3, the majority of our day was spent in the woods. At the beginning we stared at quiet roads to capture the car scene, the roads were ideal because they quiet and wide so we had enough freedom to do whatever we wanted. Additionally Nonsuch Park was ideal as the woods were exactly what we visualised, it was muddy with lots of trees which formed an creative visual element.

For the costume, I wore exactly what we planned. White t-shirt, Hoddie, leggings and converse, I covered myself in mud and leaves to create the effect that I was being followed in the environment I was running in. Additionally Ellenia and Ellie filmed with two different HD camera's, to make sure we had more than enough footage to experiment with when it comes to editing. I believe we have many different shots that will help us create a professional looking film.

Generic Conventions of a Thriller

Generic Conventions of a thriller from Anna Lambert

Behind the scenes of filming

These are some photo's of behind the scenes shooting for our opening film. We shot in Richmond Park and a quiet road that allowed us to do a key running scene. Furthermore the main character has to rub mud all over her clothes and face,( the bottom picture shows this.) Additionally it took us 4 hours to film the whole of the scenes, the whether was sunny which allowed us to experiment with lighting and different techniques to make the visual element more creative. The whole day i believe was a success, there was no restrictions on how we wanted to take the footage. There was also almost no people around which makes the clip seem more professional, as our clip is based on running and the girl being frightened of a specific character. We had two people taking the footage, so we could get the same action but from different angles, which allows us to have more than enough footage to experiment with and see what works the best. 

The Purge opening scene analysis- thriller.

• The music and the content of the visual imagery, juxtapose each other. As the music is a classical type of music that if very soft and calm, however the visual element is strong violence. This emphasis's the aggression and what is happening, as its against such soft music is makes the violence look more intense and violent. 
• The camera angles are all mostly from a high view, which makes it seem like its a CCTV camera which makes the terror of the violence more realistic. Also the high angle shows and long shots, makes it seem like the camera is hiding from the aggression; which connotes that we should be scared and the genre is a thriller. 
• The camera sometimes looks like its being hand held, which creates the feeling of discomfort and fear because it is shaking a lot. 
• However this films has atypical conventions of a thriller and the institution is breaking out of there usual routine with inter titles. Although the institution "universal pictures' comes first like usual, it's in very small writing and doesn't promote itself like it usual does in their other films. Which suggests that film is stripped back and is more realistic which amplifies the horror, as the audience can relate to it more. However by 'universal pictures' being shown it gives the audience an idea of what the standard will be like. 'Universal Pictures' make gritty hard films, which attract the target audience who want to be scared. The rest of the inter titles are over the top of the visual element, which represents that the aggression of the narrative is more important than promoting the stars of the film. 
• Throughout the opening, most of the actors are male which represents the stereotype that society has constructed. Males have been categorized as aggressive. This attracts the male target audience, as they will have something to identify with and a narrative that appeals to them. Also in the opening you never see the faces of the violent men, which gains the audiences attention as they start to question, who's that? why? This makes a good opening as it only gives hints and clues but doesn't reveal anything. 
• Additionally most of the actors are wearing black, brown. This represents that males are mysterious and has the connotations of violence and danger. Furthermore there is also clips of the victims with blood all over their body, which sets the the tone for the rest of the film. It gives the audience the idea that the rest of the film will be filled with torture and gory scenes. 

Script

We've decided not to embed dialogue in our film opening so that the audience focus's on the action of the film and with no dialogue emphasis's the music, which builds up suspension.  Furthermore as it's the opening we don't want to give away what might happen in the narrative, only give clues and hints. Instead of a script were adding heavy breathing and screams, to emphasis the protagonist's emotions. Also the villain will laugh deeply in the flash back scene, which will be the only real digetic sound. The only other sound will be the ambient sounds, which will be the sound that the forest naturally creates. 



Additionally many film's do the same thing as we our demonstrating, such as this film Transformers 4: Age of Extinction. This opening does not have any dialogue only the roars of dinosaurs and the sound of electric machinery. I believe this is an excellent way to gain the audience's attention and allows them to create there own interpretation of how the film will turn out.