Evaluation Question 3

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


As our media product isn't a major production like blockbuster movies made by famous producers it is very unlikely to be released into the cinemas. Therefore our media product is firstly likely to distributed by institutions such as Film 4 as they are the most realistic source where our media product will be distrubuted efficiently. Film 4 enable all the small films to be broadcasted not only locally but internationally as Film 4 is an international institution. Due to this, our film is more likely to reach audiences as Film 4 broadcasts films on a regular basis and is good thing for small films such as ours.


Also our group considered because we created and filmed the film within the school. The school will be a good institution to distribute our product. The reason for this is because, most of our target audience are within the school and are most likely to watch or film. Our film could be shown through assemblies or separate screenings within the school. This will be a good way to distribute or media product because as its within the school, the school will be the most likely source to advertise our media product because, its within the school. The school could get publicity from it so the school will be more tempted to distribute our media product.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represeents particular social groups firstly through one of our VIMK members Miles. As Miles is one of the main characters in this media production he represents a particular social group. Due to the fact Miles is a male he would represent the male social group. However, as Miles' character is a nerd in this production; therefore he doesn't conform the general stereotype of this social group, as he is never the dominant figure throughout this media production. This is reinforced when he is getting bullied in one of the scenes, showing how he wasnt the dominant figure in the situation he walked into.  Even though this could subvert the male social group as they are seen as 'dominant' during media productions and also manly; Miles' character however, targets the males who are classified as nerds.  This is through what he wears and how he acts in the media production which is similiar to the people who are labelled as nerds in reality.
In spite of this however, the bully Femi in this production clearly is an example of a more masculine role. This is due to how he is presented in this media production. Femi is more of a remoursless character who doesn't sympathise for the protagonists feelings (Miles). This is a more tradional masculine role also reinforced when he seeks revenge during the end of the production.
Following on from this, I believe the ghost (Irma) in this media product isn't the general sterotype you would associate with the particular social group of women. Reasons for this are because, the character is a ghost and is more do to with hurting people and causing pain on people who harm the main character. Whereas in other media productions females are usually represented as 'princesses' or have a very 'feminine' role in film. Where this isn't the case with our character Irma as she haunts Miles in his dreams and kills the bully in the opening of the film foreshadowing even more traumatising events later on in the production.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product uses forms and conventions of real media products such as horror, thriller and mystery films. The use of low lighting and ominous music is evident in all three of these real media products, we used these to create our own horror/ mystery media product. From research done we found a trend, that most horror films are set in one place, our group had limited space for a set so we used this to our advantage and picked key places where we would have everything shot.
Additional conventions of real horror,thriller and mystery media products such as camera movement and camera lenses were used in our media product, a variety of camera movement and an array of lenses may be used in a real production. Taking our limited resources into consideration we tried our best with what we had, the fish eye lens was used effectively in captivating the audience with first person point of view shots just the way a real horror media product would, also camera movement was done without equipment making some scenes seem jerky further adding to the realism of it all, again this would be apparent in a real media product.
Also the story line of there being a person that is being troubled or bullied and is helped by a guardian angel of some sort is a typical plot for a horror/mystery film and we used this form of story line to progress with our own  plot. Again research helped to strengthen our knowledge on how to approach this, we found that it was mainly a female that would be the supernatural being and offer aid or distress to the protagonist be it male or female. We did not want to challenge this form as it has proven to be successful for many real media products, we decided to keep the supernatural being female and have the protagonist male in order to add some depth to the plot.

External Software

 We had installed an external software to use at home: Sony Vegas Pro 9 and After effects. This is because iMovie was to simplistic and could only be used in school as none of the members had a mac at home to use iMove. Sony Vegas Pro 9 helped us polish our film opening, it allowed us to edit sound effects and music with maximum precision, giving our film a cutting edge, cinematic feel. Furthermore, we applied colour filters and levels to our piece through Sony Vegas, to suit the whole horror and supernatural feel we were going for.


After effects gave us a range of possibilities in what we could do with our title sequence, and our move title. We were able to achieve a 'horror' look by adding a wiggle command to the text (gives that uneasy jittery feeling), and we gave our text smooth and stylish editing transitions, with the Optimus Princeps font.
The software used were tedious to get round, but once we grasped hold of the basics, it was just a matter of what we wanted to implement in our media production; and the software gave us no limitations.

Sound Choice 4

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni OST             

In our second version of our final piece we had put another soundtrack into the scene where our male character is getting bullied (We had made this soundtrack fade inbetween our sound choice 3.) This is because we felt that the sound choice 3 we played for too long and when our bully character began vomiting blood we should insert a more dramatic soundtrack and so we began searching for a more dramatic soundtrack and found this one. 

FINAL PIECE

This is our second version of our final piece where we have inserted the title of the film and imputed another soundtrack.

Title Sequence

During the title sequence of our media production we had to add certain elements to depict the horror genre. Firstly we decided to use a black background and dark lighting to add the element of horror to the opening as during the opening of the film people get killed so using dark colours in our title sequence will foreshadowing upcoming events. We then decided to use 'Bakersville' font to introduce the names of our characters and the title of our film. We used this font in our film as this font is very edgy and because we added effects to the way it shows through a black background it adds the effect of mystery and horror to our title sequence. The colour of the font is red as well representing blood which is a usual element in horror films so the audiences we target will have an idea of what this media product'a genre is. The size of the font is size 4, the reason we used this small text during the title sequence of our film is to add the element of mystery to our media production. This creates an effect of the audience having to find the text almost as its small relaying the element of mystery. 

FINAL PIECE DRAFT

This is our first final piece however it does not yet have a title inputed.

Sound Choice 3

Card castles in the sky 

After the dream happened within our media piece we decided to implement this piece of music to our media production. We chose this soundtrack because it fitted well in terms of the situation in the opening of this film where Miles wakes up. This song is perfect for this situation because it fits the mood Miles is in when he wakes up, a very confused figure. This will also have to same affect upon the audience as they would feel confused just like Miles into why that dream occured and this song is perfect for relaying events such as these. The soundtrack also drags on further into when the protagonist is being bullied. The reason for this is to add the effect to the odd lifestyle Miles seems to posses in this film. This odd music suits the lifestyle Miles has which a fundamental reason for why this piece of music was in our film.

Sound Choice 2

Title sequence Soundtrack

Another

The reason we decided to choose this music for the credits was because it was very creepy and that was what we wanted throughout our opening clip, also it went smoothly with the clip and the shots that it seemed perfect to use. In addition to this, this music was very mysterious, making the audience have an idea of what this film will be like. By using this soundtrack during the title sequence our group are enabled to make the audience feel disturbed before the opening even takes place which our group thought it would be a good affect to have during the opening sequence of our media production.

Sound Choice 1

Prometeus Music
We've decided to go with this music soundtrack for our nightmare scene because it made the scene look more dramatic and scary.This will make the viewers feel on edge due to the dramatic music changing from low to high and back to low again. The loud bangs in the music showed that there was something wrong and that something bad may occur in that scene, but also because it was a dream it stuck well with the low key lighting that was used. The loud bangs within the music building tension within our media production as well, this will thrill audiences who watch the opening of our media production and will build events for the later parts of the opening.

Final Piece DRAFT

This is a draft of our final piece we have joined all clips together to the best of our abilities and have noticed a few small continuity errors so we will be correcting the immediately.

We have yet to put in more effects for the opening credits, at the moment we have just sorted the order of the credit sequence. We were not particular happy about using iMovie for the credit section because the features were very limited and there weren't an affects that we wanted so we could do much. Therefore we will be transferring the credit clip to another programme to edit.

Also, we have not yet put in the sound for the second scene when the character has woken up because the sound we intended to use did not fit very well so it needs to be changed. The lighting of the establishing shots and scene two (when he wakes up to reality) also has to be changed to fit the mood.

Sound Choice

We deliberately did not script dialogue because we felt that it would deteriorate our opening because we are not professionals at acting so our character may not say a line in a certain way to create the mood we want. Plus it would be quite time consuming to write a small script for the characters to say. Also, expressions are an important element to acting so we were worried that our members would not be able to make expressions necessary when they become their character which may affect it critically and make the opening seem less real. So to avoid any complications, we've decided to use soundtracks instead.

Sound

SOUND

Sound plays an important part in film. It creates the atmosphere for what is going on in the scene or what is upcoming later on in the scene. we watched a few movies involving these types of sounds to gain a better understanding of what sounds are expected horror and mystery films.





There are 2 main branches of sound, Digetic and Non-Digetic

Diegetic:

This is sound that is part of the action in the scene or sound from the action in the scene, it varies from the voices of the characters to the music on screen (instruments within the story) or off screen. This is sound that both audience and characters are aware of.

Non-Digetic:

This can be sound that is neither visible on the screen and been put into the action in that scene, it is sond that characters in the scene cannot hear but the audience can hear. This can be narration of the story, sound effects that will create the atmosphere for that scene, for instance ominous music in a horror film.

Sounds for the Production

There was a particular atmosphere we wanted to create, it took quite a lot of thought as to how we were going to create this ominous atmosphere during certain scenes within our media piece. It wasn't as easy as throwing any spooky sounding music into the production, we had to make sure the sound added depth to the scene, the above clip show is music that would be in a horror production but it does not create the desired effect we wanted in our media piece.

This clip isn't ideal either, it creates suspense but the group did not feel it would convey what we were trying to achieve. The sounds are too overpowering and would not suit our piece as events within the film do not occur so obviously, the way the music is suggesting.

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