Evaluation Question 6

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this production

 
To conclude we have learned a lot about the technologies from the process of constructing our product, as many we had never used or had little experience with before.  Our greatest advancement in skills was with Final Cut Pro, as we quickly learnt the most effective and coherent ways of editing our film. However we also learnt a great deal from the cameras, aiming for the most visually stunning shots using the rule of thirds and shooting from various angles.
While filming we struggled the most with lighting, as the batteries ran out very quickly. Luckily, due to our past experience, we remembered to bring multiple battery packs, which allowed us to continue filming.
Reflecting on our filming day 2, we also greatly struggled with sound as we found out after the shoot that our camera had not recorded any. This made us realise the importance of using an external mic recorder, to have a clearer, extra layer of sound.
From our experiences in the project, I believe that we have learnt a lot, and so in our future ones we will not make the same mistakes.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract / dress your audience

Our scene opens on a beach, this immediately attracts our audience as the setting is pleasant and the sound of the water is soothing, fitting with the calm tone of the production. By opening the scene with a soundbridge of the lapping water we felt the viewer would feel more included in the situation - thus heightening the verisimilitude. We use shots of the water going back and forth on the beach to further create the appearance of calmness, ambient sounds of the water further builds to this calmness. 

Long shots of our character sitting on the beach with members of the public in the distant background hint at her detachment from reality at this moment. We also use a female actor in an attempt to draw sympathy from the audience, as audience members will be more likely to sympathise with a crying woman than man.

Cross cutting into the club scene juxtaposes the setting and the tone, further drawing in attention. We attempt to create an image of reality, to make the scene appear similar to any experience an audience member has experienced in a club, dancing, drinking, and many POV shots to make the audience feel as part of the production, this is vital due to the audience gratifications theory where people are most likely to watch a film where they can envision themselves in it, seeing as our target audience is 15 - 25, this is the age where socialising in clubs is popular, therefore it is key that our verisimilitude is high therefore the audience will relate with the scene and therefore enjoy it more.

We included many shots of people finishing their drinks, combined with a shaky handheld effect to create the illusion of intoxication. We use quick short shots in order to keep the audience interested, constantly using different coloured lighted shots to appear more party like.

A girl throwing up immediately following the club scene suggests these particular girls are heavily under the influence of alcohol, again, a situation our target audience will be able to relate to. Having to take care of drunk member of the group may appear almost comical to our audience, as they will further be able to imagine themselves as part of this group of people. Our atmosphere following the club scene is eery and ominous. This is done to create a tense feeling, as due to the crying girl at the beginning of the scene, we are immediately made aware a tragedy has occurred. This makes the production seem edgy as something is going to happen but we do not know what due to the cross cutting between the past and present.

In reality it would be preferable to draw this scene out for longer than 2 minutes so we would have more time to build the suspense of what is going to occur and further attract the audience, but in the 2 minutes we are able to keep the audience attentive by cross cutting back and forth to the incident occurred and the repercussions without taking much time. Hopefully this will grip the audience and make them feel urged to continue watching as the plot of the movie is still not quite revealed.

Our target audience is the late teens, as this age group can relate to being at a club of some sort and losing a companion amongst a horde of strangers. The feeling of vulnerability is portrayed when our main actor is left behind, lost and alone. I think the final wide shot of Helena in the alleyway highlights this point exactly; the expanse of space in the frame makes her seem isolated, and the perspective is very ominous, implying someone could turn the corner at the very end of the alley. 

Although our audience may not fully be able to relate to this exact scenario, they can grasp the concept of how this could be dangerous for a young drunk girl. The seriousness of this further draws in the audience. In order to ensure that our audience enjoyed the production and fully understood the plot we conducted a short online survey.

One of the main ways by which we wanted to attract our audience was by filming predominantly in London, this was mainly because of the amazing oppurtunities it poses as a city. For example, even from planning stages I knew I had to take advantage of the Thames and the shingle at the southbank, just because of what an amazing bit of film it would create. I think that particular scene really makes the opening more sophisticated and controlled than it would have been otherwise, as well as it's beautiful and serene environment both promoting London by posing its best assets and attracting the viewer.

Finally, we felt the modern aspects of our opening such as the answering of Helena's smartphone directly link to our target audience of teenagers and young adults as modern technology and equipment. We thought most of our target audience would most likely have the same smartphone as Helena and if not, something similar. This ability to compare oneself to the character again heightens the sense of verisimilitude and empathy for the victim.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

 Because we had already taken out a vox pop, an online survey and given people surveys to fill out in real life asking them about film genres and their preferences, we already had an idea of the type of opening we were going to create and who we would want to position it towards. In the screening of our opening, we asked similar questions on a hand out that people could fill in after watching our piece. We also conducted an online survey on our facebook page, (which reached 561 people!) asking what people on social media thought of our final cut. 
Question 1: What film did you see most recently at the cinema?

1. 'Home'?

1. The hobbit

1. The imitation game

1. The theory of everything

1. The theory of everything

1. Kingsaren

1. Foxcatcher

1. Whiplash

1. Ex Machina

1. How to train your dragon 2

Question 2: What type of cinema did you see this film at?

1. Multiplex

1. Arthouse

1. Multiplex

1. Multiplex

1. Arthouse

1. Arthouse

1. Arthouse

1. Arthouse

1. Multiplex

1. Multiplex

Question 3: What kind of genre do you think our film is?
Out of the options Action, Thriller and Horror, Thriller was the unanimous choice.
Question 4: What would you rate our opening out of 10?

1. 7

1. 9

1. 10

1. 7

1. 7

1. 9

1. 9

1. 8

1. 9

1. 10 

Question 5: What do you think was the plot?

1. Girl gets kidnapped

1. Party went wrong.. girl left behind.. she got kidnapped..

1. Some girls are at a club, and start walking home, but one gets a call from her mum and her friends walk off and leave her in a dark alley way when you see a figure walking towards her

1. A girl gets followed after a party and is taken.

1. 'Helena' was abducted when she was separated from her friends

1. Girl taken by man after party

1. Helena is killed, Anna blames herself and spirals into insanity before tracking down the killer and vanquishing evil.

1. Girl gets kidnapped after club, other girl remembering what happened.

1. Girl gets killed, then friend finds who did it.

1. Girl going home from party, girl left behind rapist/kidnap

Question 6: Would you want to continue watching?
5 answered agree
5 answered strongly agree
Question 7: What was your favourite part of the opening?

1. The strobe sequence

1. The party scene all v.good.. continuity of the shots

1. The ending because of the suspense

1. Title and music

1. The sound effect/phone call with 'Helena' and her mum

1. Intro and ending

1. The very opening scene

1. The flash back transition and ident

1. The party scene and music, the opening shot on beach

1. Party scene, good. Cinematography, sound.

Question 8: What was your least favourite part of the opening? 

1. The throwing up scene could have been less... humorous?

1. No clue

1. /

1. /

1. /

1. That it was a different character in the intro

1. The vomit

1. The coming out of the club and vomiting shot

1. The phone call at the end - the sound was strange

1. Intro, seemed irrelevant (different character?) Waves too quiet.

Question 9: Do you feel you can relate to the characters in this film?
8 answered yes, 2 answered no and were both male (which could suggest that because they wouldn't ever worry about something like this they couldn't empathise with the character)

Question 10: Are there any things you think we could improve on?

1. Make the charms stand out more (???)

1. Nope

1. /

1. /

1. The plot could be a little scarier

1. Balance audio

1. /

1. Audio

1. Audio levels

1. Opening shot louder waves, phone scene clearer, more contrast

70.59% of people said that they 'strongly agreed' they would continue watching, and 29.41% said they 'agreed', which is incredibly positive results seeing as the survey was anonymous and there was therefore no bias.From this graph you can see the extremely positive results we have obtained, with the majority of people rating our opening a full 10 out of 10, and none going lower than a 7.
The unanimous choice for the question 'What type of film would you think this opening would lead into' was thriller, which was exactly what we were hoping for.

Here are some examples of how people responded to the question 'If there was anything we could improve on....'

1. Virtually nothing! Perhaps carry sound from club on subtly in background. BPM perhaps halved. 

1. Genuinely think this a pretty fab opening for a film I would definitely continue watching! Well done dudes 

1. Soundtrack  

1. Perhaps more of an ending- build up- suspense- close up of figure coming- slower steps- then quicker steps- however I was scared for the girl though. Wanted her to run after friends.. Party scene was good and the audio was correctly -non descript rhubarbs- but then clear when needed to be.  

1. No  

1. Make it longer as so intrigued!  

1. FABALICIOUS FUNKy FrESH  

1. Nop! I love it. 

These are the results we obtained from the screening:
60% of the audience were male and all were within the 15-20 age bracket because of it taking place at school.

We only got 17 results from our online survey, of which 76% were female and 23% male.
The majority of people who filled out the survey were between the ages of 15 and 18, which was understandable because of the age of people we are friends with on facebook and who like the page are of a similar age and still at school.

Evaluation Question 3

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

For our final production company ident, after many trials we decided that we preferred using simpler graphics, as we felt this might convey a sense of elegance and give a professional feel. We wanted to create a production company that felt more specialised than large distributors such as Fox Entertainent, and i think that using the unusual word "Euphora" helped to stand it away from them. A production company holds a large stake in the process of creating a film, as they invest money and resources into a project in the hope to recieve an even greater return. However they are required to take risks as many films unexpectedly make a loss rather than profit. As our film is a psychological thriller, it would not require as much investment as an action genre film. Thus I think that independent British film distributors may be more interested in its production.





We wanted to achieve an edgy authentic feel to our film, not following the glamourised typical hollywood productions. To achieve this we tried to use more interesting camera angles such as extreme close ups and possibly canted framing, I would therefore class our film as an in Art House style.
In this style, media institutions such as Film 4 might distribute our product, due to their previous products.  In recent years Film 4 has funded/developed films such as "the Double"; "Frank" and "Never Let Me Go". All these films are highly stylised and I believe that our product would fit into this category.
The Double, with shots pictured left, was a very interesting film that conveyed a distopian place and had a many colour palette of green hues. This collated for a surreal effect, however it also had a raw feel to the film which I believe relates to the feeling of our own.


Another media institution that might distribute our product is the British Film Institute. Like Film 4 they fund very stylised and unique films , mainly British products, and help them to reach a wider audience. Looking at BFIs showreel their choice of film products is very particular and shows the true elements of life rather than glossed over. As our product includes a hopefully dynamic party sequence, this reflects the kind of individual style I believe BFI is looking for.

I also think FilmNation might distribute our film as, like BFI, they produce stylised films such as 'Under the Skin'.  The difference being that FilmNation distribute for a more global market, which would increase our products publicity and value.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 1

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

Our media film challenges certain aspects of conventional psychological thrillers particularly those based upon an attack or kidnapping. In earlier research, I was less keen on the almost artificial nature of the majority of films, meaning that as a viewer you felt unable to relate to the situations.  Thus we tried to achieve a more edgy and raw feel whilst keeping the balance to make it look professional as well. 

  

FINAL CUT