Evaluation 8:

What targets will you set yourself for G324 next year? - when you will make a trailer?

At the start of the year I will admit that I had no clue on anything to do with media, only basic knowledge which I learnt from GCSE, which I only came out with a C. I now really enjoy media and because I understand it I enjoy the subject so much more and I want to learn it and make myself improve on things which is going to make me get a good grade at the end of two years of A levels. Personally I believe that our group have learnt a lot this year about how to edit, film, use special terminology when analysing our film and being able to conduct ideas as a group but there is definitely things that we can improve on.    

When looking at previous work and seeing how I could have made it better made me want to start it again and keep adding bits which was making me stressed. I now know for G324 next year I won't sit there and I make myself worry about bits I may or may not have missed out because  was making myself have 10x the work everyone else did. Also as I wanted a good grade I was making my work overcomplicated and writing paragraphs and paragraphs which was just making me have more work than everyone else did. Our group also chose the genre horror which is quite easy to fit the conventions as the actors in our story line had to be normal people which made it look realistic, 

Next year, we will be given a task to make a trailer and although that is different to an opening two minutes, we now know what to do. This shows that next year we will be able to identify the shot types, how to edit our piece, how to film our piece and understand the equipment. When we come back in September I am going to mainly focus on the four main technical areas rather than going of topic a little just to fill up my page. These will be mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camera composition as this is what makes your work become to the best quality it can be. Although I may have come across quite negative about my work, i have enjoyed every minute of this course and I am looking forward to doing it again next year. 

Evaluation 7:

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

Looking back at our preliminary task we can see how much of an improvement we have made and how far we have come with filming and editing our clips. It is clear to the audience that we have become more confident with using different styles and techniques. When we look back at our preliminary task we can see the faults in which we had made and if we had to redo the task we would be able to make it a lot better and improve on the editing skills and the shot types, if we compare this with our final opening scene it is quite clear that we have improved and we have learnt from our mistakes. Personally i think our preliminary task is quite good considering we had done this at the start of the year and we had little knowledge on how to change up the shot types. The differences between the two are things such as location, types of shots and different scenes; although we could have made it better if we had more time to plan it and decide what type of shot types we had but considering little times we did have i think it worked out quite well. We didn't have a choice where we did the preliminary task because we were in the school building and we were very limited on where we could go to film. This is also why our shots were quite limited because we couldn't use the environment to our ability, which also suggests it makes our clip quite unrealistic. We also had to make the preliminary task on the title 'What are you doing here?' which also made it very limited as we could only do it on one genre where as for our opening scene we could choose what genre we wanted which made it easier to plan for. It made it very difficult to come up with a script with such a limited amount of time which suggests why we messed up on some occasions. 

We ended up using trial error which showed us really how inexperienced we really were. Although this was due to the little time we had to learn what to do and how to edit. We had only been doing the course for a few weeks which suggested why we were so weak and not as confident as we could have been. One of the main things we had to learn whilst doing this task was shot reverse shot rather than film directly in front of the actors face, this made the preliminary task effective because it shows the audience the perspective of what they are seeing. When editing we realised there was a little pause between the characters speech which made the task look staged rather than smooth.

We used the conventional camera techniques in our preliminary task, such match on match action and shot reverse shot to make our preliminary task as realistic as possible and practise our skills for the first time. I think that match on match action is the most effective shot we used as it showed our camera and editing skills throughout the shot. In the two different clips we saw that we used the 180 degree rule more in our preliminary task rather than in our opening two minutes. This may have happened because we have improved our skills and instead of doing things in which we were advised to do. I believe the preliminary task boosted our confidence and made us closer as a group. Without the preliminary task I don't think that our opening two minutes would have gone as well as it did because we would not have had the time to learn or create a piece before hand.

Evaluation 6:

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When we had the task of editing our work and we were told to use Adobe Premier Elements I looked at it and I seriously had no idea. I was very reliant on my teachers and my friends but they seemed to be in the same situation. Learning how to use the Adobe became very stressful and it took up quite a bit of time just getting the hang of the little details but I finally got there. Even though we lacked in confidence and ability on how to use the Adobe our project was made to a high standard which we hope will stand out to the target audience we aimed it at. The three main things as a group we thought made our opening two minutes effective was how to cut and match footage, the sound and how to make titles. The editing skill which stood out and made it easiest for our group to edit was to cut and match footage, this cut out the jump shots which would have made the our footage seem unprofessional and would show we had basic knowledge on what we were doing. To make the opening two minutes more effective and show the emotion of the actors as there was not much dialogue between the characters, there was an option to add sound. This helped our opening two minutes to become as effective as it could be and helped the audience to gain tension which is the response we wanted to create. There was also an option to add in our titles for our production credits and for the film, the production credits made the opening two minutes as realistic as possible. We also added our title 'Follow your tracks' and we put it in the format which we wanted and were able to leave it on the screen for as long as we wanted to create a good image in the audience's heads so they remember the title and they tell everyone around them, causing us to gain a wider audience. As not mentioned above the Transitions also made it easy to edit and make it effective. This gave us a variety of editing skills we could use. For example being able to fade in and fade out, this made the opening two minutes have a mysterious to it - again causing tension. 

Although our camera in which we used to film was very high quality and it filmed our work in HD definition and because we were limited to the computers we used as we did most of our work at school, the computer didn't like it and wasn't as efficient as it could have been. So it became difficult to edit as we had to keep rendering it and it was very jumpy through scenes, but eventually we got it to the standard we wanted it to be. The camera we used was a Canon 1200D which had 1080p HD movie recording. The reason we had an advantage to use this was  because one of the members in our group does photography and she generously said we could use it to make our opening two minutes to the best quality it could be. 

Evaluation 5:

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation 4:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Its very difficult to try and specify a certain target audience for a horror film because it varies from people but from our research we have targeted our film at teenagers to young adults, leaving this with the ages of 15-24 year olds. This group of ages generally gives off the expectations that they are interested to try new things and vary in what genre of films they may want to watch which would suggest there would be a wide range in the different age groups - being boys and girls. From our research we also found out that people in these age groups what the suspense of being shocked as it makes them become more engaged into the film. With the target audience we have chosen i do believe that they would be appealed to our film because they may be able to relate to the characters as they are a similar age, for example if the girls were walking home they may get the feeling someone is watching them and that is what happens in our film. To make sure we don't struggle to sell our film and get a wide audience we will always have the advantage of social networking sites which will always help sell our film. 

Evaluation 3:

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

Evaluation 2:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The film we thought linked mostly to our film was 'Taken' as it has a similar story line and is aimed at the same target audience. We realised that they linked so much as looking at our victim Charlotte on the left above and looking at the girl who was the main victim in the film Taken had a similar role. Both roles get taken by an unknown character which creates mystery as both characters must have been watched previously. the audience of the two films will feel the sadness and the feeling of the characters as they will seen the fright in their eyes and even in their voices. The female audience could or are more likely to relate to the two characters as they may have been in this type of danger or have felt as if they had been being followed by an anonymous person. Women often feel uncomfortable when walking past a group of boys/men which may suggest they will feel the discomfort of the two victims in the two different films. The male characters may be more encouraged to watch the film as they may believe that girls are attractive, this is called the male gaze theory, not only does this create a wider audience it also helps films to be sold as men are wanting to see the attractive character in role. Other similarities of the two characters are that the film is evolved around both of them and the storyline is very similar. The main difference is the surroundings that they are both taken in, Charlotte is taken in an open space where she could try and get away or someone could hear her, whereas the victim in Taken is kidnapped in a more stable place where she couldn't get away very easily as she is in an apartment which isn't on the ground floor but other than that the two films are very similar. 

Evaluation 1:

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

Above are the shots our group decided to use for this evaluation. The first shot shows a low angle shot which shows the scene and introduces the first character, you can only see her back and but her brightly coloured back stands out from the whole scene showing that the main character is a female. The low angled shot shows the gloomy scene that we filmed in giving it an eerie setting. As it is the first shot of the opening scene we didn't want to give to much away because the audience may be able to guess what is going to happen. It gives the effect that the audience don't know where she is going or what is in her bag as that is the main thing which stands out in the shot, where as in reality the opening two minutes doesn't really focus on her bag that much. If we had to go back and change something as a group that is one thing we probably would change - we could make the bag more of an object in the opening tow minutes. There is a clear view of the surroundings around Charlotte (the victim) creates a scary and negative atmosphere.

The next frame shows a close up of the victim, the audience is shown the victim scared and vulnerable. This would bring her age into this as it is obvious she is a teen and she is more innocent and prone to being taken rather than an independent older women who may be harder to kidnap. the close up is showing the audience the emotion of the character and showing the fear in her eyes. At this part of the opening two minutes you can see Charlotte is not impressed by this stranger walking past and barging into her. This is is shown in her facial expressions as it connotes anger but also confusion to why he had to walk so close to her even though there was more than enough room for him to walk next to her without touching her. The audience may also be confused to why this has happened. 

In the third frame, we used match on action. To make the technique effective we used three different close up shots of the victim putting headphones in. This would cause the victim to become more vulnerable as she cannot hear what is going on around her and the audience would stereotypically from other horror films think she is taken now. This was a successful shot, although the victim was a little shaky as it was quite cold and she was shivering. If we were to film it again we would get the victim the practise this shot so she knows what she is doing.

The fourth frame was one of our groups favourite shots as it was most successful. It shows a high angled shot where the person filming at the time went behind a tree to create an eerie atmosphere as it may suggest she is being watched as she walks. It also made the background have a shallow depth of field which made the victim to be out of focus which conforms the to the conventions of a horror film as it suggests the victim is weak. 

The fifth frame is showing an over the shoulder shot, which allows the audience to see the setting of the opening scene. Our setting is based in a evil looking forest where the victim cannot call for help as there is no one around her, suggesting she is all alone and is at her most vulnerable. By using an over the shoulder shot, the audience are given the opportunity to see what it is lie to be the victim and what she is seeing. This will give the audience an idea of what she is feeling and how scared she must be looking in the distance and seeing nothing but have the feeling someone is there if she turned around. 

The sixth frame is one of the most effective scene and the one that fits mostly to the conventions of a horror film as we are introduced to the antagonist, as it shows his scary personality. We are hoping that this shot is the one that is going to bring most shock to the audience and hopefully increase the thrill factor. The antagonist is shown in the distance wearing dull colours so he blends in with the dreadful, dull weather. The dull colours should connote death as people generally wear black when its a sad or dull occasion.

The eighth frame shows of our action shots where the antagonist meets the protagonist. It shows to the audience that the male is very dominant which fits stereotypes this can include everyday life and also in horror films. The girl screams which also fits stereotypes as she is fitting to the innocent teenage girl she is but also in horror films the victim is generally dramatic to show her emotions. When we edited this we used two shots to film this action shot, one medium shot from side on and then a low angled shot to show the victim trying to get away and falling over. 

The ninth frame shows a long shot of the victim running away, the long shot is used to allow the audience to take in everything around the scene. The audience are also giving the chance to have the idea that the victim has been able to get away and she is going to receive help from someone. 

The tenth frame is a close up shot of the victim screaming, the reason we chose to do this as a close up is because it will confuse the audience to why she is screaming and the only thing the camera is focusing on is the girl screaming and it brings out her emotion. But the audience can't see anything else but her which causes tension and may cause the audience to become nervous and on edge. 

The last frame, frame eleven shows the title of the film 'Follow your tracks' this has been done in white font and has the black background which gives it a mysterious effect as it does't give anything away to the audience. 

FOLLOW YOU TRACKS - opening scene:

Follow your tracks:

Presentation and Audience Feedback:

Presentation and Audience Feedback:

Practice Titles For Our Film:

Practice Titles:

Whilst choosing what type of text we wanted to use for our opening titles, we went back to our research post on opening titles in which we had done earlier in the year. We decided that the font 'Felix Titling' was the best font at creaking an eerie and spooky effect. We wanted it to be in a white font so that it would stand out on the black background and it would stay in the conventions of a horror genre. When editing our actual film, we will add in effects to make it more entertaining and appealing to our target audience. In the future we will try and consider different transitions when editing such as dissolving and making it more entertaining for out audience, especially if it is for a horror genre.  

Soundtrack Research:

Soundtrack Research:

Before we looked into what sort of soundtrack we wanted and what to use in our opening scene, we decided to look into previous soundtracks which have been used in other films. The films in which we have look into are 'The Conjuring' and 'Insidious'. 

One of the first soundtracks which we looked at and is a similar sort of thing that we want in our opening scene is 'The Conjuring'. The music used for this was awfully breathtaking and upbeat to keep the audience aware and have full control. This would make the audience be frightened but at the same time they are telling themselves that they are not scared as they don't want to give in to the horror film and what is it trying to do. Just listening to the soundtrack without the film still brings tension and it has a brilliant effect, also even though it is just a soundtrack it still makes you think that something is going to happen even though you know it won't. The only problem with this is that is only has one movement which is the dramatic music increasing and then decreasing. This is a problem because for our soundtrack we are looking for a few different movements as we want it to be as dramatic as possible and scaring the audience as much as we can. 

The next soundtrack in which we looked at was insidious.This soundtrack was a very good example of we we are looking at as it shows the mystery throughout making the opening scene very eerie and would make the audience very unaware to what is going to happen. The insidious soundtrack is very similar to the one we are looking into for our opening scene. Although the Conjuring is more similar to our film the music isn't as dramatic as we are looking for where as the music to this one is very up our street. We are hoping to produce a soundtrack which fits in with what we are looking for to make it scary. 

Whilst looking for different non-copyright websites for the non-diegetic music for the opening scene of our film, we found a website called 'Imcompetech'. This website helped us and provided us with a process to finding the soundtrack we wanted. To start with it gives options in which you type the genre of the film that you are looking for, in which case ours was Horror. Then you go on the options of the genre in which you have chosen and pick the music you aimed to find, on the options you can pick as many as you would like to link with the genre. From the options we chose, Dark, Eerie, Unnerving, Mysterious and Suspenseful. After we picked the options for the theme of our music they gave us lots of different soundtracks which matched what we were looking for. The soundtrack we thought was best for our opening scene was called 'Evening of Chaos'. The track involves semi-beautiful and flawed piano melody, which contrasts with industrial percussion. The piece has three distinct movements and we all agreed that it makes the opening scene stand out. 

Location Research:

Location Research:

This is our location for the day of filming. The reason we chose this part is because it is dull and hidden away from other people so we don't get to interrupted by other parts of the public. The reason we chose to do it in the woods is because it is very stereotypical from a horror film as it fits all the requirements needed to make it successful. Also where is has been set it makes it easier for the audience to follow and makes the framing not too cramped and look out of place. The pathway is also one path and occasionally go round the bend which would make the audience curious to know what is round the corner and make them on the edge of their seats. Also because it is winter the leaves have fallen off the trees which makes it have an eerie effect and makes it more creepy.  

Costumes and Props - Villain:

Costumes and Props - Villain:

Similar to the victim the antagonist will have to wear a convincing costume which makes it as realistic as possible. this is why we have made him wear dull, everyday colours which suggests he blends in and looks like an ordinary person walking home from work. The reason we did this was to make it seem to begin with that he had nothing to do with the film and he was just a person walking by. I believe this has a really good effect and makes it more mysterious to why he wants the school girl. It also suggests he has a dull, boring mood and has no emotion because he is wearing such dull clothing.  






The prop that we want the antagonist to use towards the end of the scene is a bin bag, we had planned to use a potato bag but on the day of filming we couldn't get one. the will be used to grab Charlotte so she can not see his identity and there is no way to her knowing what is happening. It also creates the effect that you can not see her facial expressions but you can only hear her screams. 

Costumes and Props - Victim:

Costumes and Props - Victim: 

Choosing what costume the victim should wear is very essential because it sets the mood of the opening scene and it would encourage the audience to want to watch the film. The reason the costume is so important as it shows the audience the type of character she is and it shows her age and why she would be vulnerable. The reason we decided to dress Charlotte in school uniform is to show that she is an innocent school girl who doesn't believe she would be in danger. The reason we believed school uniform was the best way to dress our victim is because it adds to the film and makes it realistic. This would scare our audience even more especially if the audience is a similar age to the victim. 

The props in which the victim had was a school bag, the only reason we had her with a school bag is again to make it more realistic as she is walking home from school. We then decided to make the scene more realistic as because she is so scared of the villain she throws her back which would show the audience how terrified she actually is. 

Mood-Board:

Mood-board:

In my mood board which is above it shows the different things in which we believe are the crops and a similar scene in which is above. The reason that i have added a bag is because in the horror film we are getting the innocent girl to be attached by the villain and this is the crop we are going to use to do this. We are then hoping to put make up on the actor (Callum) who is going to be the villain to put make up on to make him more mysterious and to show that he doesn't want the girl or anyone seeing his identity. There is then headphones in which the girl will be wearing before she gets taken, this gives the effect that she won't know what do to. We then have a whistle which the villain is going to blow to scare the girl. 

Diary of Filming:

Diary of Filming:

We have planned in advance as a group the dates so we know everyone can do these days. We are going to film our opening scene by planning in advance which means we will be organised and efficient. Giving out roles will make the process of filming a lot more easier than doing it on the day. 

Day 1: 28th December 2014

Today will be out first day of filming, we start to start filming at 3pm. We plan to film as much as possible before it gets dark, before we start filming we will give our actors details on what to do and how to act. We plan to film shots more than once to give us more options on of choosing which shot is the most effective. Hannah will be in charge of the filming as she is most experienced, Carly will be in charge of the story and making sure we do what it says and i will be in charge of the props and making sure everyone's make up and clothing is up to standard. 

Day 2: 3rd January 2015

Unfortunately Hannah's camera ran out of charge so we had to film again, luckily we had left this date open in case filming extra shots were needed for our opening scene. We all met again at around 3:30pm and filmed the remaining shots, we were all given the same roles as they worked best last time and everything went to plan. When we go back to class we can start editing our opening scene.