Final Task:Advertisement and Directors Commentary

This is a advertisement poster i made which will be advettising virally on Facebook and other internet sites.

I recorded by own commentary on the film including what i thought of it and how my overall opinion on the film. I have added this to the video to allow it to play on a loop. Here is the link to it.
http://vimeo.com/22601530

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

In the preliminary task firstly the storyline was not very good as it did not allow the audience to know what was happening and what it was about this then further did not keep them interested in the film. It also did not link in with the title and this confused some of the audience that the film recieved feedback from. From this in the final task I learned that the film needs to have storyline which would target the audience and keep them interested and in this case the issues of loneliness, derpression, bullying and an overdose were all linked into the film making it all very dramatic withnin the first few minutes.The title also had to link in with the film which it does and also show interest the audeince. The use of the title we used was so that it looked more effective to the audience and would be a very persuassive and attracting title to be used in the viral marekting and distribution of the film in film feestivals and social networking sites.

I also learnt in this task that it is nesscecary to have a steady and smooth shot which is done by using a tripod. In the preliminary task we never used a tripod and this made the film very shaky and not flowing correcttly. This was picked up in the audience feedback and so we decided to use a tripod which worked very effectively with the final task. In the part where the girl starts to run the camera is shaky however this merged i well with the fact she was running and this meant we did not have to reshtoot it.

Another feature which i did not use in the preliminary is the use of credits and positioning of them and the title. In the preliminary task the title was at the start and there was no credits but in the final task i added a number of credits not only to pause the shots but because in some we had continuity so we split it up. The title compared to the preliminary task came at the end and this made it more effective as it makes the audience watch the film further because of the clifhanger of the girl taking the pills. The codes and convention of a gloomy and dark film were also useed such as th titles againist black background to emphasise the colour.

Another was used the camera features we used and the variety of shots. In the preminary task we did not use a variety of shots and this did not allow the audience to stay intrested. I learned how to do smooth zooms which would work correctly, high shot and the shot reverse shot. I also came up with the idea of having the mirror reflection which at first i thought it may not work because it was right next to a window and the lighting may be a problem but with a bit of editing it worked really well. This was something i was very proud of have to achieved in the film.

I also learned how to edit more effectively in a film, from the preliminary task we hardly did any editing except from a flashabck with a black and white shot. In the final task i used a variety of edits such as the blur, still image, shot reverse shot, the fades in and out of characters, the audio sound when the ghost appeared and the music which i added a fade out to which was not used in the preliminary task. These were a big effect on the audience because the blur and still image meant they knew it was a ghostly person and not human.

Overall from the prelimnary task i maintained the detailed plaaning needed in a plan with the storyboard, call sheets and production scheldule. I learned how to use Adobe to create more effect to a film and  also the importance of them. Also i leanrt the use of a starigth forward storyline but must keep the audience intrested.
I really enjoyed making this film and completely understand all the hard work that is needed in film production!!!

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

The technologies I have learnt about in the process of making the opening scene have at a big impact on the quality of the film and the success I hope it has.

Firstly the use of the camera which I have learnt how to use skillfully to produce a good quality shot. The camera helped us to shoot all the shots in the opening scene. I learnt how to use the zoom in and zoom out in a smooth way so it didnt jerk. I always used a 3 seccond gap before and after the shot to make it easier when it came ot editing the film so that parts of the shot were not missed out and reshooting would have to be done. I also learnt how to use the audio on the camera which helped me to record my commentry and make it clear enough to fit into the film. The camera however at the start was causing problems with the brightnesss in the shots as we shot it in very bright sun and this did not suit the camera to make a clear shot. From this I have learnt that the camera needs to be very advanced in order for the film to be clear and steady, the quality of colour and brightness also need to be looked at in a camera before shooting a film. Along with the camera a tripod was used for the film. I have learnt how to use the tripod such as the camera sercurly on it and how to position it so brings a good picture. The tripod wasn't used in our first attempt as the film and this is the reason we reshot because it was jerrky and shaky. However when using the tripod it did cause some probles in Adobe premier when editing such as the noises of the click on the zoom buttton when zooming in and out. Also as the gilr walks at the strart the street was steep and the tripod couldn't be pointed higher for girl to to be seen in the shot. This delayed day 1 of the reshoot.

Another technology used is Adobe Premier Pro CS3 which was used to convert the shots on the camecorder into the final film piece. It was used to store images and sound to be used such as the Slient Hill was used in Linked. It was used to edit such as adding the still image, fade in, fade out, the blurs, title, credits and allow the film to flow as it does. Adobe Premier CS3 is also where I uploaded by audio commentry to add to the film. It is a very good software with the range of effects it has, however as we had to reshoot I did not get to explore these effects to add to the film but definely Adobe is a great software to use when making a low budget and self distributing film as the package is not very expensive. However Adobe Premier Pro CS3 did cause some major problems especially in the first film and my commentry. It takes a awful long time to render and with my commentry it took ages and then just decided to randomly turn off where it did not save the rendered process which caused me to redo it. The software is not goood in that it doesnt have a quick process of rendring and being able to upload the video to the blog and this may have resulted inme not being able to put blog entries with the pieces we already had edited to get feedback before hte deadline. This has taught me that for a film a very good and reliable software is needed as a number of problems can occur with shoot and therefore the software should also not be another problem.

I also learned in this process how to use this blog which I think has been very useful for me to quickly refer to the older posts such as the research I did. It has especially allowed me to write what ever I thinkabout the filma and also the feedback we got from this blog was very very helpful.

Final Task: How did you attract/address your audience?

This film will attract or adresss the primary audience being teenagers and secondary audience being paents of teenagers. Firstly from the use of titles and credits having a glowing and bright effect clearly is emphasised on the black background. This makes the titles and credits stand out making them more noticable to the audience and keeping them interested. The titles and credits also meeting the conventions of the real media products with this sort of genres shows a dark and mysterious style to them. Especially the title which comes after the girl takes a overdose has a big affect on keeping the audeince attracted to the film as it is a cliffhangers as they find out what happens to the girl. The titlese and credits have a very modern looke relating to teenagers and with the gloing effect it represents normally a club sign relating to the primary audience.

Secondly the within in the first shot the audeince establish the young teenager girl walking from the school by herself. This is a aspect of the film which allows the primary audience mainly relate to as the teenager is repreesented, contracting the typical representation of teens in films. This is therefore attracting the audience as it is something they can connect to.

Next the use of dark and depressing music immediately constrasts the genre of the film being depression, bullying and overdose. The music builds up when the ghostly figure is reviled and when the girl is running, this builds up tension and suspense and the audience is attarcted to the film as it beomes as they wonder why this girl is runnign from the ghostly figure. The ghostly figure is big part in making the audience stay interest and attract them to further watch beccause not many films have this sort of issue where a teen is troubled by a ghost and therefore this is very unique film.

The use of the props such as the mobile phone also were used in the opening scene to attract the audience. For the primary audience the mobile phone immediatley informs them it is set in the modern day and this further interests them as it is something they can relate to. The use of pills for the last shot in the openign scene is used to atttract the secondary audience being the parents as it is a very serious issue which is very rarely represented as teens being vulnberable and so the seondary audience stay interested within it.

Final Task: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The film linked has specifically been used certain codes and conventions of the genre to meet the target audience. The primary audience that the film has been aimed at is teenagers as discuused in the distribution and conventions of the film. Teenagers are the audience becasue of the studio which aims to show a different perception of teenagers to what they are typically presented within films as intimataing, bad and not very nice people. Also the conventions of the film match the genre and the connect to the audience. These are the use of school uniform, mobile phones and issues of depression, loneliness and bullying. The use of the two characters both being teenagers it allows the audience which is teenagers to wonder how them two are connected and to watch further. The primary audience will connect with the this film more and will be the target audience becasue they may have experienced, not experienced or withnesses issues such as depression, loneliness and bullying therfore having a connection with the girl.

The secondary audience of the film will be the parents of teenagers because of the issue the studio is trying to emphasise. The studio tries to emphasise the fact that some teens are not represented as they are typically in films and can be sugeested as having issues such as depression, loneliness, bullying and overdosing. This is further helping parents to realise that teens go through these issues and that they keep it very secrative and therefore being thre target of the film.

These issues very much relate closely to primary and secondary target audience and immediately in the opening scene of the film they will stay interested in the film.

Final Task: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Firstly our Studio logo was called Arrow Up. This is because it tries to feature more on social issues and allow people meaning the audience be aware of these social issues that many teens face. Therefore the use of a postive name with Arrow up suggests moving forward. This studio is used to emphasise the fact that typical representation of teens in other films as being intimatating, bad and not nice people is not alwasy the case for young people. Also with the logo is a very happy themed audio to go with which adds to the meaning of moving forward from the title.

Next the media institution of the media product will be self distributed becasue of the low budegt being used to produce the film. For Arrow up studios this is the first film. In terms of self distributing there are many ways of becoming a successful film and reaching the target market by the technologial advancements and use of viral marekting intact.

Firstly we will distribute the film at various film and also music festivals. This is becasue many teenagers attend these sort of festivals and the use of modern singers and independent students in universities allows these festivals to be the key in order to allow this film to reach the target audience. Here is a couple of examples of film festivals for the film to be targetied in 2011....



 Another form of distributing the film is throught the interent where viral marketing can be used to reach the target audience. You tube which has become the centre of videos can be a succesful stratgey to aim the film at also allowing it to be cateorigesed into certain searches. However another way is social networking sites escpecially Facebook which will be a direct advertisement to the target audeince. Facebook aims to advertise cerains media products to cerain people depending on their age, relationship status and their likes nad dislikes. This immediatey will allow the film to reach the targett audeicen who will watch the film.

Films which I have research to Half nelsons, The Zombies Diaries and Paranormal Activity which have both been successful with low budeget films. Paranormal Activity also had a second film made and was very much viral marketed before bieng ditributed by Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures from the success of the Screamfest Horror Film festival.

Final Task: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The film in terms of representing a particular social group is entirely a representation of teenagers who also are the audience of this film. This is becasue firstly the props used within the film which represents teengaers lives such as the girl walkinh with the school unifirm. Having this as the first shot and as a long shot immediately informs the audience it is about a teenager hence the school uniform.

Further on in the film the use of a mobile phone once again shows the representation of teenagers which quite often in society use of mobile phones exceessively for interenet and texting which also links into the storyline of the film with cyber bullying. The phone aso informs the audience that the film is set in the modern day allowing it to be something they can relate to.

However the film very much contracticts the representation of teenagers in terms of ideologies and issues used in a film in todays socieity. Firstly the girl walking home alone suggests she has no friends and the sad expression shows a sense of loneliness and depression. This very much a contratiction to other teen related films where they are often represented in large groups and intimatating. This is immediatlet relates to the issue of bullying that th girl is experiencing causing the audience to watch further and see why this girl is different to other teens represented in other films. Another part of the film which show this is the use of the mobile phone where when hearing the text message the audience suddenly have a glimpse of hope kind of that this girl has a friend or someone who cares about her but however this turns out for the audience to know she is bein bullied or stalked.  This therefore causes the audience to sypathsise with her furthe watching the film.

The taking of pills is a also very much a contrtication of teens represented in other films and therfore challenges forms and coventions of real life  media products. It however does show a serious issue in the film relating to the primary and secondary audience of the film.

From this the film is more likey to be a 12a as it has some strong issues and also will be used to aim at the target audience.

Final Task: Presentation

This is a frame showing our Main Title. We placed this title towards the end of the clip to make the audience wait for the big title. This makes them watch the whole the opening scene and keeps them interested. The cliffhanger comes before the title and this keeps the audience interested in what happens to the girl.

The titles within the opening scene have a black background. This was used because in our research we found many mysterious films such as Da Vinci and Sherlock Holmes use this effect to portray the genre of the film. The black background also emphasises the colour of the title more making it stand out to the audience.

This screen shot was used at the very start of the opening scene as an established shot. The shot shows the setting of the film and represents the social class of the girl. It was shot in daylight represents she is walking from school. This contradicts the genre as they are usually set in the dark but this links to the film of how the girl also sees this ghost figure in daylight.

The special effects used when the ghost figure appears are to show that she is some sort of supernatural person and different to the girl. This special effect is creating enigma, tension and suspense as the audience will be unsure of this characters role and why she is following the girl.
When the ghost figure appeared we also have this sound to represent that she is something different and important role in the film.

This shot shows are the girl is taking pills. This makes the film more appealing to a teenager audience and how they can relate to social issues.

The primary audience of the film is teenagers because the film has teenager actors and relates to issues teenager potential go through

Immediately in the start of the film the audience establish that the main actor is a teenager as the clothing is school uniform. Identifies how the girl is walking from school without any friends. This links to the issue later of depression and loneliness.

The phone is another feature of the film that relates to the target audience as it represents modern day lives of teenagers. Audience start to think this girl has a social life but release it is from the ghostly figure which makes the audience sympathise with the girl.

The taking of pills shows the situation as become very serious and keeps the audience interested in what has happened to this girl.

The secondary audience of the film are parents of teenagers as it allows to think what teenagers can go through and how it may relate to their children.

We used Arrow Up as our studio because the name has a positive impact on the audience with the use of arrows going up means moving forward. This makes the audience think the studio is moving forward and attracts them to watch the film and other films by the studio.

The film does not have a distribute as it is going to self distribute by presenting our film on the internet and viral marketing on social network sites which targets the primary audience.

Also it will be distributed in film festivals.

This presentation which we created and presented to the rest of the class. Here is the link to the video of me presenting it:

http://vimeo.com/22119625

Final Task: Audience Feedback and Interview

 This is our audience feedback


We also had a interview done by Mr Earl discussing our opening scene. Here is the link to the video

http://vimeo.com/21687122

Final Task: How does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The film aimed to meet the codes and conventions of a crime/mysterious genre film. From the research performed I found many ways in which mystrious films appeal to the target audience. I looked at the ways in which crime/mystery attract the audience such as building up tension in the first few minutes so the audience stay interested to watch further into the film. The first few minutes need to build up suspencse in order to keep the audience watching the film and wanting to know what happens further on. At beginning having researched the 'The Pink Panther' I thought a comedy side to a mysterious film may be unique. However I realised that this would be a disadvantage as the vermilistude decreases with concept of comedy and crime being linked. This also may not be a film aimed at our target market which are teenagers but more for children and families. From this decided to do a more serious mood in the film which from the researched films was the most popular among crime films such as The Da Vinci and Sherlock Holmes.

In the research we found the codes and conventions used for a mysterious based film is the use of dark and gloomy music to set the scene. This builds up suspension and results in the audience being lead to watch further. In our clip we used this convention throughout the opening sequence to keep the audience watching. The music we used was from the 'Silent Hill' which emphaised a mysertious feel to the film. This music fitted perfectly with the opening scene because the sound and upbeat of the film would change when the girl strated to run in our film which resulted in the effect we wanted. This showed how our media product used conventions of real media products which also increase the pace of the music when tension needs to be build in a scene.

I added an audio sound which was loud to the parts where the ghost appeared on screen. This further kept the audience in suspense and with the use of a sudden sound we also aimed to frighten them. This also allowed the audience to know that the ghost figure was not a normal person. Also the use of a still image with a blur when the ghost apperared made the audience identify it that this person was not human. We used this to develop and challenge conventions used in real media products as from the researched films this effect was not used. At first this was a risk but became a success in making the audience realise the ghost is not human and realising the plot of the film. Also when the ghostly figure appeared a still image was used to edit in to and sometimes a blur. This challenged the codes and conventions of real life products because the films research did not use this effect.

In the research we used I found the majority of films had a black background for the titles in the start and so this is what we decided to do. We challenged the complete opposite from The Pink Panther which used aniamtion and bright colours for titles to emphasise the comedy in the myseterious film. This immediately informs the audience that it is a dark and gloomy film with the use of darkness for the titles. We have electricity style technique on the title to contrast against the black background. We used this to emphaises the titles more and allow the audience to notice them further. This again shows the use of the film using and devloping the forms and conventions of real media products.

Another form of convention used was the title which is Linked coming after the cliff hanger which is the girl taking the pills. This was emphaised to make the audience watching and to find out what happened further on into the film. This was used and developed by real life media products such as the Da Vinci Code.