Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?-While producing our media we have been influenced by many other factors. At the beginning of our studies we looked at many thrillers that established the codes and conventions we would need to include. Watching Alfred Hitchcock famous thriller of Psycho, we analysed the use of black and white and how he choose purposely to pursue his film in this way. He did this to create the glumness and dullness of the film. Setting it in black and white gives it a thriller aspect that’s already chilling as the screen is lifeless from colour. Within our thriller I think we have applied is technique similarly as we added a blue/black filter onto the majority of our clips up to the party scene. We did this to create a sense of eeriness and to foreshadow that fact something bad is going to happen. By having a darker screen instantly everything becomes scarier, sinister and gloomy a setting has been created by simply changing the light. This was a positive factor to final cut express as the lighting was also increased during the outside party scene because our bodies could not be originally seen. The lighting and colour corrector was found most useful. Watching Barton Fink I gained an insight of the motifs used within a thriller. The picture on the wall of the lady on the beach was emphasised an awful lot, at the end of the movie it became clear to why she was. The film had been using it to foreshadow events to follow. Using this technique we wanted Maddie to walk across the road nearly getting run over, to show she’s far from safe, and a picture that falls from Roses bag, but has Maddie’s face cut out, this foreshadows that later on in movie Maddie will not be around. So by having clues and motifs the audience can build up an understanding of might happen. We obviously did not want to give everything away and so when Rose washes her hands in the sink, at the end of the movie you also see a bloody hand hit the tree, the audience might be in slight confusion as they are unaware of Maddie’s death and may think that both hands are Roses (hand on tree and in the sink) I think this is positive as later on in the film it will become clear to the audience which hand it was but by them not knowing a twist could be created towards the end so nothing too much is given away. Also by watching Barton Fink the Coen brother used a lot of metaphors to explain various things. For example Charlie otherwise known as Munt was a very heated and angry character at one particular stage of the movie, to represent this Coen brother produced a scene from where the hotel was on fire to show Charlie’s heat. The fire did not look real and I think this was intentional as only a metaphor should be taken from it. We have not used this style within our thriller because I didn’t want the movie to become unclear as our target audience is teenagers and my teacher had to explain to me that that Baton Fink was full of metaphors I had not grasped that throughout the film, as I am a teenager and within the age bracket we are aiming our thriller at, I don’t think it would have been a good idea to include metaphors, as a clear narrative would not have been created. Watching Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, gave us the idea of having long shots of the two best friends Rose and Maddie walking and having a conversation. In lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels long tracking shots of the characters walking though the shop have been accomplished the camera travels forward in front of them and uses one long shot only to capture the conversation they have. I think by putting this within our thriller establishes the closeness between the two characters Rose and Maddie. Somehow we need to show the audience that these two girls are best friends and inseparable, because then the events that later follow become a shocking. If we were not to resemble their closeness then when the party goes wrong, the audience won’t be as shocked because they will have no realisation that the two characters were close, this is why we were inspired by the shots created in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. We also liked the slow motion sequence at the beginning and I hoped on using a similar effect within our thriller, to show the realness of the scene. If we had slowed down Maddie walking out in front of a car, we see the action for longer and this creates more suspension, unfortunately we had to cut the car clip out as the continuity did not look professional or flow and we could not re shoot as the weather was very changeable. When watching the birds by Alfred Hitchcock I was not impressed. I understood he had put ordinary people in an extraordinary situation but I did not find the film enjoyable, saying this we did use the technique of foreshadowing used in the birds as she walks into a bird shop, ironically birds in cases suggests something bad is going to happen later on. We used his idea with our motifs of the picture and car, but as we had to cut the car clip out the picture is our main motif. Watching The Dark Knight, I noticed the establishing shot was very important. In all the thrillers we watched the scene was established, we input this into our thriller but not at the very beginning as we start with a prologue which gives us a preview of a later scene to grab the audience and create mystery from the very beginning. we established the school of sixth form when Rose and Maddie leave school, I think it shows the audience that it’s a teenage thriller as its based around a scene in which that age group go. It shows the characters are students and this already sets up a possible turns of events as teenagers are known to be unpredictable and rebellious.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?-While producing our media we have been influenced by many other factors. At the beginning of our studies we looked at many thrillers that established the codes and conventions we would need to include. Watching Alfred Hitchcock famous thriller of Psycho, we analysed the use of black and white and how he choose purposely to pursue his film in this way. He did this to create the glumness and dullness of the film. Setting it in black and white gives it a thriller aspect that’s already chilling as the screen is lifeless from colour. Within our thriller I think we have applied is technique similarly as we added a blue/black filter onto the majority of our clips up to the party scene. We did this to create a sense of eeriness and to foreshadow that fact something bad is going to happen. By having a darker screen instantly everything becomes scarier, sinister and gloomy a setting has been created by simply changing the light. This was a positive factor to final cut express as the lighting was also increased during the outside party scene because our bodies could not be originally seen. The lighting and colour corrector was found most useful. Watching Barton Fink I gained an insight of the motifs used within a thriller. The picture on the wall of the lady on the beach was emphasised an awful lot, at the end of the movie it became clear to why she was. The film had been using it to foreshadow events to follow. Using this technique we wanted Maddie to walk across the road nearly getting run over, to show she’s far from safe, and a picture that falls from Roses bag, but has Maddie’s face cut out, this foreshadows that later on in movie Maddie will not be around. So by having clues and motifs the audience can build up an understanding of might happen. We obviously did not want to give everything away and so when Rose washes her hands in the sink, at the end of the movie you also see a bloody hand hit the tree, the audience might be in slight confusion as they are unaware of Maddie’s death and may think that both hands are Roses (hand on tree and in the sink) I think this is positive as later on in the film it will become clear to the audience which hand it was but by them not knowing a twist could be created towards the end so nothing too much is given away. Also by watching Barton Fink the Coen brother used a lot of metaphors to explain various things. For example Charlie otherwise known as Munt was a very heated and angry character at one particular stage of the movie, to represent this Coen brother produced a scene from where the hotel was on fire to show Charlie’s heat. The fire did not look real and I think this was intentional as only a metaphor should be taken from it. We have not used this style within our thriller because I didn’t want the movie to become unclear as our target audience is teenagers and my teacher had to explain to me that that Baton Fink was full of metaphors I had not grasped that throughout the film, as I am a teenager and within the age bracket we are aiming our thriller at, I don’t think it would have been a good idea to include metaphors, as a clear narrative would not have been created. Watching Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, gave us the idea of having long shots of the two best friends Rose and Maddie walking and having a conversation. In lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels long tracking shots of the characters walking though the shop have been accomplished the camera travels forward in front of them and uses one long shot only to capture the conversation they have. I think by putting this within our thriller establishes the closeness between the two characters Rose and Maddie. Somehow we need to show the audience that these two girls are best friends and inseparable, because then the events that later follow become a shocking. If we were not to resemble their closeness then when the party goes wrong, the audience won’t be as shocked because they will have no realisation that the two characters were close, this is why we were inspired by the shots created in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. We also liked the slow motion sequence at the beginning and I hoped on using a similar effect within our thriller, to show the realness of the scene. If we had slowed down Maddie walking out in front of a car, we see the action for longer and this creates more suspension, unfortunately we had to cut the car clip out as the continuity did not look professional or flow and we could not re shoot as the weather was very changeable. When watching the birds by Alfred Hitchcock I was not impressed. I understood he had put ordinary people in an extraordinary situation but I did not find the film enjoyable, saying this we did use the technique of foreshadowing used in the birds as she walks into a bird shop, ironically birds in cases suggests something bad is going to happen later on. We used his idea with our motifs of the picture and car, but as we had to cut the car clip out the picture is our main motif. Watching The Dark Knight, I noticed the establishing shot was very important. In all the thrillers we watched the scene was established, we input this into our thriller but not at the very beginning as we start with a prologue which gives us a preview of a later scene to grab the audience and create mystery from the very beginning. we established the school of sixth form when Rose and Maddie leave school, I think it shows the audience that it’s a teenage thriller as its based around a scene in which that age group go. It shows the characters are students and this already sets up a possible turns of events as teenagers are known to be unpredictable and rebellious.
When filming we had to make sure we did not break the 180 degree rule. The more
we filmed the more we got used to applying this rule as we would choose a fourth
wall and always film from there. In our thriller we have broken the rule on occasions,
these were mainly the shots filmed first when we had little experience. The option
was there to re shot but I think intentionally using the shots where the 180
degree rule was broken was to our advantage because it distorts and confuses
the audience. We have already included a clue about Maddie’s death and we don’t
want to give too much away so by breaking the rule it shows the distortion. The
house party is where the rule has been broken the most; I think this is suitable
because it shows the audience that the characters are drunk and disorientated.
We decided not to use Film Noire where venetian blinds are used to establish a
mysterious character or place; we wanted a more modern approach as our audience
is based upon teenagers.
By casting ourselves as actors we were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. When directing many of his films he makes an appearance as an extra or small character. Making an appearance in 39 out of 52 of his films we can see the importance and consistency he used meaning that it was something of great importance to him, it gave him a style and the audience could establish and relate that it was a Alfred Hitchcock’s film as an appearance from him would most commonly been seen. So by casting ourselves we are developing a style as directors, it was also convenience that cast me as Rose, Lauren as Maddie and Anastazja as Ivy as employing a cast may have been unreliable as they may not have been available to film on certain dates but by casting ourselves and friends we were sure that we were available for filming. This way we all got a turn on the camera directing as each of us had to make an appearance, obviously mine and Laurens characters appear more, but there were still scenes we could film.
I am extremely pleased with the success of our framing. When watching La Haine, the framing in the film was exquisite, for when they walk through the petrol station the rule of thirds is established and the two characters are on the lines of the beams that are holding the station up and when they walk further out the buildings are all aligned on the horizon. They are not all the same size but the director has created a shot in which he found a place where they all aligned to make the storyline and narrative clear, by having clear shots the narrative becomes more rich and alive. Applying this to our thriller we aligned the door frame of the opening shot of me washing my hands in sink, further to this the staircase outside of school and in Maddie’s home have been lined up to clearly show the setting. When Maddie is getting Rose a drink, the door frame is again nicely shot, we have many framing shots and I am pleased with this success. I did think that throughout our thriller we experimented well with the various types of shots used as we had reverse shot, high angles, framing, long tracking shots and over the shoulder shots so I am pleased with variety we have used, it makes the movie quick paced witch keeps up with the teenage audience we are aiming our thriller at as today in the film industry invisible editing and short quick shots allows escapism and enjoyment of watching films and TV.
The French new wave movement explains a liner storyline from where you have a beginning middle and end, we have followed this but cannot film the whole movie as our task was to film a five minute clip, but we did think of the rest of the movie and this helped us in filming as we knew what to foreshadow and how to fade out because we knew the scenes that would follow. Having a prologue at the beginning sets the audience up as they have some background knowledge of the events to follow, I think it’s mysterious and grips the audience from the start as its present day rewinding backwards through to the previous day, and this has been shown in a short amount of time of 5 minutes. It then continues to resent day again where the real mystery of investigation takes place. Our production company clips also show a clear beginning to our thriller as we have both direction and funding companies. The opening credits begin and it starts with the two production companies followed by directors and then the main actors in ranking of fame and participation within the film, as for example my name is last and has ‘Starring’ implying as I am the main character I am of a more famous status than the rest of the actors and actresses in the film. We knew how to order our opening credits from watching Silence of the Lambs and the Departed. Silence Of The Lambs showed a clear understanding of the rolling credits as for in the Departed they weren’t included until later on within the film.
By setting equilibrium and using ordinary people we have created an extraordinary situation. I am pleased with the strength and success of the script because I think it gives a clear narrative, we have produce a product in which is chilling as I think its original having the equilibrium and normality defiantly gives it the codes and conventions of a thriller as when studying existing thrillers the first 5 minutes was about normality, we have reflected this within our production.
The music in which we have used suits our target audience of teenagers as its modern music technology ‘Dub Step’ at the beginning. We used chilled dub step which is mysterious and chilling and this contrast with the scary scene (loud up beat dub step) showing the difference between the equilibrium (normal situation)and the turn of events that give the movie its thriller status. As our target audience are ‘Digital Native’s’ according to Rupert Murdoch the use of modern technology should appeal to them in many ways.
Overall I am extremely happy with how we have established and got across to the audience that our movie product is a thriller, I think it becomes clear that we have included as many codes and conventions possible to reflect the genre ‘Thriller'.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?-We have represented different social groups by making our product a teen thriller. Starring within our production are all working class teenagers. We have based the storyline and narrative on a teen drama that takes a thriller twist, by creating the equilibrium where it’s an ordinary situation, a narrative about two best friends having boy troubles came to light; this is stereotypically a teen movie. Having teenagers star in the film instantly shows its target audience and teenagers will watch this for their own gratification, because they may be able to relate to the situation the two best friends are in. Two guys are giving them a hard time, leading them on and then not texting back, it’s the beginning of realisation that relationships are harder than they first appear. Having a party scene with underage drinking and dub step music also establishes the teenage rebellious stage, and older person wouldn’t be able to relate to this and would not find any enjoyment from watching it, this is why it would appeal to the teenage audience. By developing a friendship so close we used shots where the camera was in front of Rose and Maddie on their walk home this is showing the audience the importance of their closeness, because when you’re a teenager you have your best friends and then your class mate, whereas when your older you’re more likely to just have group of friends and not label each one in how close thy are to you. Setting the scene around a school resembles the age and social group we are betraying as young students aged between 16 -18 will be in sixth form, the school does look moderately posh, this establishes that these teenagers come from good backgrounds. We have quite a lot of high angle shots and this can be analysed as the camera being above them meaning they still have a lot to learn and growing up to do, it’s almost looking down on them and intimidating them. I am very happy with the success of how we represented our social group.
By casting ourselves as actors we were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. When directing many of his films he makes an appearance as an extra or small character. Making an appearance in 39 out of 52 of his films we can see the importance and consistency he used meaning that it was something of great importance to him, it gave him a style and the audience could establish and relate that it was a Alfred Hitchcock’s film as an appearance from him would most commonly been seen. So by casting ourselves we are developing a style as directors, it was also convenience that cast me as Rose, Lauren as Maddie and Anastazja as Ivy as employing a cast may have been unreliable as they may not have been available to film on certain dates but by casting ourselves and friends we were sure that we were available for filming. This way we all got a turn on the camera directing as each of us had to make an appearance, obviously mine and Laurens characters appear more, but there were still scenes we could film.
I am extremely pleased with the success of our framing. When watching La Haine, the framing in the film was exquisite, for when they walk through the petrol station the rule of thirds is established and the two characters are on the lines of the beams that are holding the station up and when they walk further out the buildings are all aligned on the horizon. They are not all the same size but the director has created a shot in which he found a place where they all aligned to make the storyline and narrative clear, by having clear shots the narrative becomes more rich and alive. Applying this to our thriller we aligned the door frame of the opening shot of me washing my hands in sink, further to this the staircase outside of school and in Maddie’s home have been lined up to clearly show the setting. When Maddie is getting Rose a drink, the door frame is again nicely shot, we have many framing shots and I am pleased with this success. I did think that throughout our thriller we experimented well with the various types of shots used as we had reverse shot, high angles, framing, long tracking shots and over the shoulder shots so I am pleased with variety we have used, it makes the movie quick paced witch keeps up with the teenage audience we are aiming our thriller at as today in the film industry invisible editing and short quick shots allows escapism and enjoyment of watching films and TV.
The French new wave movement explains a liner storyline from where you have a beginning middle and end, we have followed this but cannot film the whole movie as our task was to film a five minute clip, but we did think of the rest of the movie and this helped us in filming as we knew what to foreshadow and how to fade out because we knew the scenes that would follow. Having a prologue at the beginning sets the audience up as they have some background knowledge of the events to follow, I think it’s mysterious and grips the audience from the start as its present day rewinding backwards through to the previous day, and this has been shown in a short amount of time of 5 minutes. It then continues to resent day again where the real mystery of investigation takes place. Our production company clips also show a clear beginning to our thriller as we have both direction and funding companies. The opening credits begin and it starts with the two production companies followed by directors and then the main actors in ranking of fame and participation within the film, as for example my name is last and has ‘Starring’ implying as I am the main character I am of a more famous status than the rest of the actors and actresses in the film. We knew how to order our opening credits from watching Silence of the Lambs and the Departed. Silence Of The Lambs showed a clear understanding of the rolling credits as for in the Departed they weren’t included until later on within the film.
By setting equilibrium and using ordinary people we have created an extraordinary situation. I am pleased with the strength and success of the script because I think it gives a clear narrative, we have produce a product in which is chilling as I think its original having the equilibrium and normality defiantly gives it the codes and conventions of a thriller as when studying existing thrillers the first 5 minutes was about normality, we have reflected this within our production.
The music in which we have used suits our target audience of teenagers as its modern music technology ‘Dub Step’ at the beginning. We used chilled dub step which is mysterious and chilling and this contrast with the scary scene (loud up beat dub step) showing the difference between the equilibrium (normal situation)and the turn of events that give the movie its thriller status. As our target audience are ‘Digital Native’s’ according to Rupert Murdoch the use of modern technology should appeal to them in many ways.
Overall I am extremely happy with how we have established and got across to the audience that our movie product is a thriller, I think it becomes clear that we have included as many codes and conventions possible to reflect the genre ‘Thriller'.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?-We have represented different social groups by making our product a teen thriller. Starring within our production are all working class teenagers. We have based the storyline and narrative on a teen drama that takes a thriller twist, by creating the equilibrium where it’s an ordinary situation, a narrative about two best friends having boy troubles came to light; this is stereotypically a teen movie. Having teenagers star in the film instantly shows its target audience and teenagers will watch this for their own gratification, because they may be able to relate to the situation the two best friends are in. Two guys are giving them a hard time, leading them on and then not texting back, it’s the beginning of realisation that relationships are harder than they first appear. Having a party scene with underage drinking and dub step music also establishes the teenage rebellious stage, and older person wouldn’t be able to relate to this and would not find any enjoyment from watching it, this is why it would appeal to the teenage audience. By developing a friendship so close we used shots where the camera was in front of Rose and Maddie on their walk home this is showing the audience the importance of their closeness, because when you’re a teenager you have your best friends and then your class mate, whereas when your older you’re more likely to just have group of friends and not label each one in how close thy are to you. Setting the scene around a school resembles the age and social group we are betraying as young students aged between 16 -18 will be in sixth form, the school does look moderately posh, this establishes that these teenagers come from good backgrounds. We have quite a lot of high angle shots and this can be analysed as the camera being above them meaning they still have a lot to learn and growing up to do, it’s almost looking down on them and intimidating them. I am very happy with the success of how we represented our social group.
What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?-As our thriller is based upon teenagers, platforms
such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace would be an appropriate place to
distribute our media product as the age group on these networking sites will be
around the same age and the actors starring in the film, meaning it may appeal
to them more that the older generation. Videos once uploaded on these social
networking sites can be shared and liked and this increases their popularity,
this is why I think these platforms would be successful in promoting and distributing
our thriller.
Who would be the audience and why?-The
audience would be teenagers aged between 15-19 because I think they would watch
the movie for their own gratification. It’s a typical teenage situation where two
girls are having guy troubles, we set the equilibrium but then something goes wrong
and the thriller aspects appear. In cinemas it would be rated a 15 because of
content, gore and language, so the age can’t be lower than 15 years of age. The
older generation would not enjoy this I do not think because they won’t be able
to relate to it. In the party scene we have used a modern form of music ‘dub step’
this appeals mainly to teenagers today as it’s a recent development in music.
Also wild house parties are stereotypically pinned on teenagers and this is why
we have included that type of environment amongst scenes of the school because
they create normal situations teenagers are always in. The hot tub outside empathises
the teen audience as flashing lights and loud music (playing in the background
as there is dialogue) is shown. It’s a rebellious scene within our thriller and
I think our audience can relate to this as they are experiencing all sorts of emotions
with their hormone levels. Teenagers enjoy the thrill of watching a scary
chilling film, also a large group of friends may go to view the movie if it
were out at cinemas because teenagers are sociable and meet up. They get the
image they want by watching this rated film as teenagers do depend on what others
think I feel.
How
did you attract/address your audience?-We attracted our audience
by making the film appeal to teenagers who are the voyeur audience. We have
done this by setting the equilibrium; this is an ordinary situation where two
teenagers are having boy drama a typical subject for teen movies. We included a
party scene with modern music known as dub step. This is very new and on
‘trend’ meaning it appeals to the teen age bracket. I think even the costumes
attract the audience because all clothes worn are fashionable and in modern
societies style, these are the sort of clothes the audience either desires to
own or currently owns. This is established in CLAMPS, The costumes are
fashionable and of a teenage style, the lightning reflects a thriller as its sinister
and mysterious, the actors are the age of the audience, so they will be able to
relate to that characters, maybe watching it for their own gratification, a
voyeur audience. Makeup and props- a lot of alcohol and drugs are used this
stereotypically means teenagers and they are mostly associated with these objects.
Also we made sure bags and school folders were used to show that the characters
are students. The settings are places in which only teenagers are found, at a sixth
form centre and a house party, retained to teenagers. Our shots are quick and
fast paced as we have got a lot them, some longer than others, but in modern TV
everything nowadays is fast and invisible to watch, teenagers are used to this TV
so we have reciprocated that within our production. Being the digital narratives according to Rupert
Murdoch we used modern forms of technology like the music dub step. We set the equilibrium
so the situation is normal and then extraordinary events take place I think this
will attract our audience as they are in situations where one minute everything
is fine and then the next a turn of events has taken place. The title oracle means
something hidden or mystery, this will draw the audience in as teenagers are always
looking from excitement and thrills. I think we have addressed the audience
with the high angle shots we use, it represents looking down on them, they have
a lot of growing up to do and they are inexperienced in life, I think the
camera shows there place in society. As Barton Fink uses a cast of adults, the
film is more likely to appeal to that age bracket; the actors within our production
come into the age bracket we are addressing. Overall I think we have addressed
and attracted our audience appropriately.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?-Using final cut express was extremely difficult and at first I did not enjoy working with it, it was extremely temperamental and hard to use. I thought it was inconvenient and not user friendly. We found that we didn’t know how to use the programme when we first started working with it and when we tried to do produce something it either wouldn’t work or we could find what we were looking for. But as time when on we learnt many features of final cut express and even if I wasn’t the one editing and just imputing my ideas we would all watch the person editing so we would learn different functions. What we found difficult was finding the right effect. We looked through all the effects but you can’t preview them you have to drag them onto the clip you want and then render that whole section. If that’s not effect you were looking you would have to undo this and complete the process again with another effect. I thought this was very inconvenient and not very advanced and couldn’t understand why the producers of the programme hadn’t made it easier to use. In the end we found the echo effect we were looking for as this is added from where I take the week so the audience gains an insight that Rose is high and not in her right state of mind. Adding text was extremely difficult, firstly trying to add it to our preliminary was not successful, so that doesn’t have any text included upon that sequence as we could not work out have to impose the text onto a moving image, not even with the teachers help. When editing our final thriller we really needed to find out how text could be imposed onto a moving clip, in one of my frees I asked a teacher and she showed me that you have to drag the text to the V3 line which we had never tried before as we were either imputing it within the same line of our sequence or the line below. Now I could add this effect producing the opening credits became easier but still was very time consuming. At first we had the opening credits crawling across the screen but the teacher commented that it looked to student film like so we managed to fade the opening credits in, coming up in different places during the beginning of our thriller. We could play around with the text setting making it crawling, stand still or typewrite. The typewriter effect was used for the title oracle and then we proceeded to use the transition fade in to a standing text effect. Transitions was another factor in which we found hard to complete. We could not fade out to black and then fade back in from black everything we tried simply didn’t work. We even watched YouTube tutorial and asked for the teachers help and nothing worked. When asking friends there’s had simply worked by dragging it on the clip where it was wanted but for some reason on our timeline it would allow us the extend the transition so it stood at a milli second and this is why the transition was not visible to see. Finally after playing around with the sequence and transitions for hours we moved our timeline down to V1 and selected the whole of the sequence to the right of the clip that we wanted the fade out on and moved them apart. I then inserted the transition and it allowed us to change the timing, it was successful in working. The only thing we could not do was fade in from back. We tried many more things to try and fade back in but it just wouldn’t work, but we were satisfied with the transition we had managed to achieve as we think it looked effective and maybe a fade in wasn’t needed after all as the professional look we wanted was there. But positively the colour corrector worked to our advantage as the scenes outside in the dark were at risk of having to re shot as you as the audience couldn’t see our faces or bodies but we managed to increase the fill light and it made us visible. Also when I am passed the week two clips were used and cut together but the hot tub lights change colour, we managed to resolve this by putting a pinkie purple filter over one of the clips but this did decrease the quality of filming and the screen looked a little graining, this would be an improvement for next time. We should have kept the hot lights on one colour to avoid this mistake. Our teacher says the quality doesn’t matter as it was a very short clip anyway so we are pleased with the colours input within our timeline. Adding the music was also a positive factor about final cut express as we could easily produce sub clips and insert the music on the lines below. The transitions were also easy to layer on and the timing could be changed simply by dragging the transition from the sides. I feel that whilst producing our thriller I have edited a significant amount in final cut express, my partners are always there to aid me and input their ideas and we did take it in turns to use but I was pleased with the input I made as I felt I wasn’t just sitting back but actually getting hands on and producing our thriller. I think final cut express is a excellent programme as now I know my basic way around the software, I wouldn’t use it at home or recommend it because we did have a lot of trouble using it and our experience was not enjoyable, but it does have many positive factors that I can now see.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what did you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? - We have leant many things since filming our preliminary. When we first opened final cut express we knew nothing about the software, now we have created a 5 minute thriller using all aspects, like music, effects and transition. From studying different existing thrillers we gained a concept of how to apply different techniques to show our production as a thriller, these were such things as an establishing shot, making sure there was equilibrium, liner storyline and there are many more aspects. I think we organised ourselves well and having studied thrillers we knew how to apply the techniques used in those to our own idea. As we structured and came up with our concept, we had lots of ideas which we sat down, disused and then picked the best options according on whether it fit into the codes and conventions of a thriller. Planning was quite simple as our idea formed quite easily and quickly as we had lots of influence and inspiration. The script and storyboard were devised and produced quickly so we could commence filming. When filming, our script altered slightly according to the objects available to us at the time for example we did not have vodka and coke so changed it to Malibu and pineapple. Some shots could not be filled so we didn’t entirely keep to the storyboard as sometimes we experimented with what looked best and tried framing as much as possible. I now know how to create a thriller and the codes and conventions acquired to fulfil this, Using final cut express I know what effects are where and what does look appealing. If I were to use the programme again it would be a quicker process as the majority of things I would need to do I know how. This coursework has taught me many things and I think I have made a massive progression from filming the preliminary. We went through the process of having to re shot many times but we got the shots we needed in the end to create a successful thriller. At the begging we had no idea about how hard the continuity would be to shoot and once we gained an understanding of this we re-shot something many times to ensure we had the right shot to minimise having to re shoot as we learnt weather is an issue as you have to match what’s already been filmed. We had to take a clip of our thriller out when the car nearly hits Maddie as we couldn’t re shoot and it didn’t look continual, the weather was not good enough to re shoot so we cut this from our production. Working with friends went really well as we all input our ideas and did an equal amount of work, we got on as a group and I think this has helped make our thriller a success. Working with a large cast the party scene was difficult because there was a lot of people to control and as the directors we have a visual image for what we want the thriller to look like and we need to input that within the extras heads, so we briefed them and told about our thriller, the coursework outline, our script and storyboard so they gained an insight and proper understanding of what they needed to do. Being the directors we had control over everything, CLAMPS was important. The costumes were easy to produce as we are all teenagers of the working class, we can afford nice fashionable clothing which was used within the thriller. The lighting throughout our production was fine apart from the outside scene where our bodies could not be seen, this is where final cut express was useful as colour corrector allowed us to resolve lighting issues in the dark and also set the scene outside to make it look eerie and mysterious. Actors and actress we employed as ourselves and friends as this was more convenient, we were always available to film as were our friends and it also showed codes and conventions as Alfred Hitchcock takes part in many of his films. Makeup and props we used well I think making sure all props stayed in the same place if in a room so the continuity of the shots look effective otherwise objects would have been jumping around. We actually had made physical props such as our motif picture and if we didn’t have a prop mentioned in the script we would add the necessary speech to the props we had available so everything flowed correctly. The setting and scenes were established, meeting the codes and conventions of a thriller. Establishing sixth form and a party scene showed that it was a teenage audience as not only did the actors reflect this with their age but the settings are of those where you would find a teenager. I have learnt many things from filming this thriller like the software final cut express as I know my way around that programme now, I know how to construct a thriller using all the codes and conventions and I am pleased with the organised we had to complete this coursework because I feel it has been a success.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?-Using final cut express was extremely difficult and at first I did not enjoy working with it, it was extremely temperamental and hard to use. I thought it was inconvenient and not user friendly. We found that we didn’t know how to use the programme when we first started working with it and when we tried to do produce something it either wouldn’t work or we could find what we were looking for. But as time when on we learnt many features of final cut express and even if I wasn’t the one editing and just imputing my ideas we would all watch the person editing so we would learn different functions. What we found difficult was finding the right effect. We looked through all the effects but you can’t preview them you have to drag them onto the clip you want and then render that whole section. If that’s not effect you were looking you would have to undo this and complete the process again with another effect. I thought this was very inconvenient and not very advanced and couldn’t understand why the producers of the programme hadn’t made it easier to use. In the end we found the echo effect we were looking for as this is added from where I take the week so the audience gains an insight that Rose is high and not in her right state of mind. Adding text was extremely difficult, firstly trying to add it to our preliminary was not successful, so that doesn’t have any text included upon that sequence as we could not work out have to impose the text onto a moving image, not even with the teachers help. When editing our final thriller we really needed to find out how text could be imposed onto a moving clip, in one of my frees I asked a teacher and she showed me that you have to drag the text to the V3 line which we had never tried before as we were either imputing it within the same line of our sequence or the line below. Now I could add this effect producing the opening credits became easier but still was very time consuming. At first we had the opening credits crawling across the screen but the teacher commented that it looked to student film like so we managed to fade the opening credits in, coming up in different places during the beginning of our thriller. We could play around with the text setting making it crawling, stand still or typewrite. The typewriter effect was used for the title oracle and then we proceeded to use the transition fade in to a standing text effect. Transitions was another factor in which we found hard to complete. We could not fade out to black and then fade back in from black everything we tried simply didn’t work. We even watched YouTube tutorial and asked for the teachers help and nothing worked. When asking friends there’s had simply worked by dragging it on the clip where it was wanted but for some reason on our timeline it would allow us the extend the transition so it stood at a milli second and this is why the transition was not visible to see. Finally after playing around with the sequence and transitions for hours we moved our timeline down to V1 and selected the whole of the sequence to the right of the clip that we wanted the fade out on and moved them apart. I then inserted the transition and it allowed us to change the timing, it was successful in working. The only thing we could not do was fade in from back. We tried many more things to try and fade back in but it just wouldn’t work, but we were satisfied with the transition we had managed to achieve as we think it looked effective and maybe a fade in wasn’t needed after all as the professional look we wanted was there. But positively the colour corrector worked to our advantage as the scenes outside in the dark were at risk of having to re shot as you as the audience couldn’t see our faces or bodies but we managed to increase the fill light and it made us visible. Also when I am passed the week two clips were used and cut together but the hot tub lights change colour, we managed to resolve this by putting a pinkie purple filter over one of the clips but this did decrease the quality of filming and the screen looked a little graining, this would be an improvement for next time. We should have kept the hot lights on one colour to avoid this mistake. Our teacher says the quality doesn’t matter as it was a very short clip anyway so we are pleased with the colours input within our timeline. Adding the music was also a positive factor about final cut express as we could easily produce sub clips and insert the music on the lines below. The transitions were also easy to layer on and the timing could be changed simply by dragging the transition from the sides. I feel that whilst producing our thriller I have edited a significant amount in final cut express, my partners are always there to aid me and input their ideas and we did take it in turns to use but I was pleased with the input I made as I felt I wasn’t just sitting back but actually getting hands on and producing our thriller. I think final cut express is a excellent programme as now I know my basic way around the software, I wouldn’t use it at home or recommend it because we did have a lot of trouble using it and our experience was not enjoyable, but it does have many positive factors that I can now see.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what did you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? - We have leant many things since filming our preliminary. When we first opened final cut express we knew nothing about the software, now we have created a 5 minute thriller using all aspects, like music, effects and transition. From studying different existing thrillers we gained a concept of how to apply different techniques to show our production as a thriller, these were such things as an establishing shot, making sure there was equilibrium, liner storyline and there are many more aspects. I think we organised ourselves well and having studied thrillers we knew how to apply the techniques used in those to our own idea. As we structured and came up with our concept, we had lots of ideas which we sat down, disused and then picked the best options according on whether it fit into the codes and conventions of a thriller. Planning was quite simple as our idea formed quite easily and quickly as we had lots of influence and inspiration. The script and storyboard were devised and produced quickly so we could commence filming. When filming, our script altered slightly according to the objects available to us at the time for example we did not have vodka and coke so changed it to Malibu and pineapple. Some shots could not be filled so we didn’t entirely keep to the storyboard as sometimes we experimented with what looked best and tried framing as much as possible. I now know how to create a thriller and the codes and conventions acquired to fulfil this, Using final cut express I know what effects are where and what does look appealing. If I were to use the programme again it would be a quicker process as the majority of things I would need to do I know how. This coursework has taught me many things and I think I have made a massive progression from filming the preliminary. We went through the process of having to re shot many times but we got the shots we needed in the end to create a successful thriller. At the begging we had no idea about how hard the continuity would be to shoot and once we gained an understanding of this we re-shot something many times to ensure we had the right shot to minimise having to re shoot as we learnt weather is an issue as you have to match what’s already been filmed. We had to take a clip of our thriller out when the car nearly hits Maddie as we couldn’t re shoot and it didn’t look continual, the weather was not good enough to re shoot so we cut this from our production. Working with friends went really well as we all input our ideas and did an equal amount of work, we got on as a group and I think this has helped make our thriller a success. Working with a large cast the party scene was difficult because there was a lot of people to control and as the directors we have a visual image for what we want the thriller to look like and we need to input that within the extras heads, so we briefed them and told about our thriller, the coursework outline, our script and storyboard so they gained an insight and proper understanding of what they needed to do. Being the directors we had control over everything, CLAMPS was important. The costumes were easy to produce as we are all teenagers of the working class, we can afford nice fashionable clothing which was used within the thriller. The lighting throughout our production was fine apart from the outside scene where our bodies could not be seen, this is where final cut express was useful as colour corrector allowed us to resolve lighting issues in the dark and also set the scene outside to make it look eerie and mysterious. Actors and actress we employed as ourselves and friends as this was more convenient, we were always available to film as were our friends and it also showed codes and conventions as Alfred Hitchcock takes part in many of his films. Makeup and props we used well I think making sure all props stayed in the same place if in a room so the continuity of the shots look effective otherwise objects would have been jumping around. We actually had made physical props such as our motif picture and if we didn’t have a prop mentioned in the script we would add the necessary speech to the props we had available so everything flowed correctly. The setting and scenes were established, meeting the codes and conventions of a thriller. Establishing sixth form and a party scene showed that it was a teenage audience as not only did the actors reflect this with their age but the settings are of those where you would find a teenager. I have learnt many things from filming this thriller like the software final cut express as I know my way around that programme now, I know how to construct a thriller using all the codes and conventions and I am pleased with the organised we had to complete this coursework because I feel it has been a success.
By Jordan Gale
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