Preliminary task

 

Final opening sequence

This is my groups opening sequence

This displays our opening sequence which is a thriller we named it "The Unknown" this is final piece.

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

   At the beginning of media we did a short one on one conversation as our first taste of knowing how to use the camera's properly and to use them effectively. This gave me a good experience of what is needed for when we finally went on and did our opening sequence. I believe that the preliminary task benefited me. We had to use the editing technique which is shot reverse shot in the conversation also learned about the 180 degree rule which is when you can't go past a certain line. This is because it'll then look like the characters have changed place. We also had to use match on action. Match on action is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shots. When i was first introduced to media i didn't have no idea how key these shots and techniques would be. I thought that the director just goes out a shoots shots without using much detail. However i have no learned that it is important to take care in the shots and have a story plan of every shot which you are going to take with the smallest bit of detail going into the shot.

 This has benefited me a lot because i have learned that filming is not easy because it can take you 10,20 even 30 times to perfect the shot and get the shot that you want to achieve. The preliminary task gave me an idea of how hard it can be trying to perfect the shots, and because it was my first time going out with a DSLR camera i knew that it would be difficult but, with the slight experience i gained by having the advantage of the preliminary task it helped me out, this meant we didn't have to waste filming time on knowing how to set up the camera and to make sure we keep the camera still. This is because if the camera is shaking you will get downgraded marks.  For example in my preliminary task there were some mistakes in there for example; one of the shots i was visible in when i shouldn't have been there. Also we left the camera bag on display which is another mistake and if we did this in our opening sequence coursework we would get downgraded marks.

When it came to the main task we still had to re-shoot a couple of times to make sure we made it as good as possible. This also meant with tampering with the storyline a little bit to try and even make it better. So by the end of our opening sequence we felt satisfied and that we have done as much work as possible to try and get the best possible mark.

I still feel like i can improve with my filming and editing so this is something which i want to improve on when i next go out and do a task.

Question 3- What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

A distributor of a film is somebody who is responsible for the marketing of the film. The distributor may also set a release date for the film to be exhibited or made available for viewing. For example it could be available for cinema viewing or for home comfort which could be on a DVD.

A production company may specialize in producing there own in house films or subsidiary development companies. 

For our groups piece the distribution company we choose to use was 'Lionsgate'.
 

We choose to use this distributor is because it has been a distributor in many different thriller films and because our film is a thriller also we thought this would be a good distributor to use. Also that 'Lionsgate' is a big distributor is another factor why we choose to use it. Most of there films are very successful for example 'Hunger Games' was a big hit and this one was on the many big films which Lionsgate distributed. Lionsgate also advertises its films on the television showing little clips from the movie to try and attract the audience to come and watch the film. This is a very effective way to promote a new film because if you advertise the film on a popular channel on the television millions of people are going to see it and if you feel like the film is a good film which the audience will enjoy the majority of people will properly want to come and watch the film. This is because of the effective promoting on the film.

Our film would be certified as a 15 this is because of the use of blood and some graphical scenes which are in our film. This is the reason why it wouldn't be suitable for people under the age of 15 to watch it. 

  

Our film would be screened in the cinema because this is where we think we could make the most money and profit for our film and believe the film is good enough to be shown in the cinemas.

Question 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Gender

In our opening sequence we have mainly focused most of our attention on gender and what we can do with it to make our film more effective and interesting for the audience to want to watch. For example we have gone against the typical stereotype in which the male is the dominant figure and the female would be the vulnerable one with no power. We have done this by the female being the one who makes the male character unconscious on the floor fearing for his life with nobody around him to help. Ways in which we have done this is by using low key lighting when the female character is in her room getting ready and we also used tight frame around her to make it feel like she's alone and nobody can help her in this situation. We also used flashbacks and a mid shot of the male looking directly into the camera and scaring the female character and making her constantly thinking of the male character which she doesn't want to do. 

Teenagers 

We also used teenagers as a representation in our opening sequence. One of the way we have done this is by using a teenager to be the main character and for the stress she is going through which could also link in with exams because she is in the latter years of her time at school. We have also used teenagers as a representation by the way we have stereotypical used the fact that teenagers are always using there phones and we have used a mid shot of the girl on her phone and you can also see what she is texting on her phone to her friends as well. Young girls are also known for trying to look there best at all times and that they like to put make up on and we used this as an advantage to have a close up shot of the girl putting on make up to try and hide behind what she has done and to try and forget about beating up the boy. We also used
teenagers over dramatic side by her slamming the door when she could easily just close it without having to slam it.

  

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Target audience
The target audience for our piece is for both males and females between the ages of 16-25. The reasons why we choose this age group is because it is quite a young age and the story is based on a young girl aged around 16 getting stalked by a boy, so this is why the target audience is for older students and young adults. The theme for the film is a thriller so because of this we are targeting thriller lovers because we believe people who enjoy watching there thriller films, so the opening sequence is a little insider for the audience to find out about the storyline.
 We have rated our film as a 15 so people that are aged 15 and over can go and watch it. This also links in with our target audience which is 16-25 so they are able to watch the film without and illegal issues. We believe that it will not be suitable for people under the ages of 15 to watch it because it is to graphical and there is a lot of blood on show.


Demographics
Gender females and males
Age 16-25
This is a good film for people in college and in university to watch to reflect on things which might of happened in there school without them knowing. For example somebody getting stalked by a fellow student.

Psychographic
Name: A girl or a boy which lives in England with a British name.
Gender: Male or Female
Age: 18
Lives: England
Watches programmes which are linked with crime and that are very graphical programmes such as; The Widower, Law and Order. They will visit websites such as bbc news to find out the local news and to always keep on top of it. They like to go out shopping and get some new clothes for example; Foot asylum and Primark. They will listen to music which are in the charts so the latest music which is out. They will inspire to be a policeman or something to do with crime and help crack down on it.

The collage which i have created is about what my character is interested in and what they like to do in  there spare time.

Question 5: How did you attract/address the audience?

In our piece of work we made a range of different videos to be able to display our research which we found from people we had asked. Firstly we asked people to give us feedback on our piece to see if they understood the storyline and to make sure that they didn't spot any errors in our filming which we would then have to eradicate from our piece. We asked our interviewees 5 question which we felt would help us with our evaluation on our piece.

As a group we also decided to look back at the vox pops we created at the beginning of our ideas which we were thinking of doing before we decided what idea we was going to do for our opening sequence. We took some of there ideas on board because we wanted to use our audience research because that it what the audience will enjoy so we need something that will want them to watch it. 
This video is of the vox pops which we did before our idea. 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I am new to media and the technologies that come with it. At the start of the year i had never used or even touched a mac computer before. I thought that they would be the same as a normal computer, but i was wrong they are more complicated because they can do more things than what a standard computer can do and even better things. Now i have learn how to switch on the mac and use the settings needed to edit my opening sequence. Without knowing how to do this it will be very difficult to put our clips for my film together.
 I am also new to the blogger website. Blogger is a website where you write up all your coursework and ideas which you have for your coursework on so you can visit it where ever and when ever you want. This has been very helpful to me because it is a place where i can store all my coursework and put it online and can access it on another computer without needing a memory stick. This also helped me gain trust from my class mates because they can access my account with the same power over it as i have, so you need there trust so you know they will not ruin or delete and of your work.


  One of the most important things to know in media is how to use the cameras and how to set them up correctly to go out and film and take pictures. I knew how to use the cameras but i didn't know how to set them up correctly at the beginning of the year. But know i no how to do both with ease, this makes it a lot easier for me when i want to go out and film and possibly take photo shots. If you don't know how to use a camera properly you will more often than not have to go out again and re-shoot the shot because it hasn't been done properly. This could be because it isn't in focus or that the camera is moving when you are trying to take a shot. I had a little trouble with this at the beginning of the media but since i have been using the cameras on a regular basis it has become easy for me to do now.

Websites such as sound cloud, free sound and YouTube has helped with creating the product as it allowed for me to find the appropriate music for the editing of our sequence. This has helped me out because it is easy to find music which is needed.

When we started our opening sequence and went out to film we had to make sure that we were set up all the time with the correct equipment because we were short on time and we needed to do this so we didn't waste no more time. Important things which we needed when we went out to film were things such as the 

Memory Card' without this we wouldn't be able to transfer our footage onto the Mac's so it would be pointless in us filming. 

 

 'Tripod' without bringing the tripod we wouldn't be able to get our shots with the full range of accuracy because the camera would constantly be shaking and this will give us no chance in perfecting the shots. The tripod can also go to various different heights so it can be used for low angle shots and also high angle shots so it has flexibility in the type of shots it can be used for.








'DSLR Digital Camera' without a camera you wouldn't be able to film and record your footage so it is very important that this is taken. The camera can be used to do extreme long shots, establishing shots and also extreme close ups because of the lenses which can be acquired to put onto the camera. They are also a very expensive piece of equipment this is because of all the technical things which come with it.

The picture which is displayed here is the camera set up along with the tripod and it working together.

Overall a list of new technologies which i have learn in media are things such as: 
Blogger
Tripod 
DSLR Camera
Imac computer 
Premier software 
Prezzi 
You Chop
Embed 

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Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conventions of an opening sequence

Setting
The conventions of an opening sequence are things which you have in place which gives the audience watching ideas and more knowledge of what they are watching. One of the conventions to a film is the setting. The setting is there so the audience get more information of where the film is taking place or where it might take place later on in the film. Each films use there conventions differently when introducing certain parts to the film. For example the director might not want people to know where the main setting is going to be. This is because it will surprise the audience and keep them guessing.
    An example of our piece when we introduce our setting is when we have various of shot of the girl at home getting ready to go school. This shows that she is the main character and that the setting is going to be at a school. This will then give the audience a good idea of what the film is going to be like.

The establishing shot of the setting is showing a house where most of the action of the opening sequence takes place. This doesn't give to much out for the audience to take advantage of because most people spent most of there time in there house so it doesn't tell much to the audience. 










Titles
Another convention of an opening sequence is the titles. At the beginning of the opening sequence it is important that the titles are put in place for the main characters and the main people that have helped make the movie. The font of the titles can help add to the film. For example if you are going to make a horror film which is very bloody you could have the title red and with a font which will suit the horror theme. Titles have a big part to play and need a lot of thought to go into them to make sure they don't look out of place to what your film is about.The titles come onto the screen at a pace which suits the film and adds to the tension. A good example of an opening sequence of a thriller is the film "The sixth sense". This opening sequence starts off with a dark black background with the titles slowly appearing in blue text this adds to the tension because the text slowly comes into the opening sequence with the music in the background. The title come one at a time normally in order of importance for example the main actor will be the first name to appear on screen.

The titles in my opening sequence are bold white font. This wont give much information for the audience to take from the titles.







Looking for clues
At the end of the opening sequence the audiences should have clues which the director has left them to try and work out what is going to happen in the rest of the film. especially in the genre of the thriller the director will leave numerous of clues because thrillers are all about giving the audience clues and trying to solve things. For example in the film "Taken 2" The main character is trying to save his family and he is looking for clues for how to save them, also the audience don't know if he is going to survive or die.
 

Main actor revealed
In the opening sequence of a thriller the main actor will be revealed so the audience knows who it is. This then lets the audience know what there role in the film will be. The audience will find out if the main character is a villain or  good character. In the film inception when Leonardo Di Caprio is introduced from the shore at the beach he imminently can be identified as a positive character and the audience will more often like him because he is a good character.  

 This is the first sighting of the main character in my opening sequence. The audiences first sighting of her is with her back to them to hide her identity for a little bit longer. The fact that she is walking into the house can distract the audience from what she has done. Because the audience at this point might think that she has come home from a normal day at work or school.



Blood
Blood used in an opening sequence will be there normally to represent a death, For example they will use the blood to show to the audience what has happened in the opening sequence, then they know its rather going to go and get solved by the police or something else will happen. Normally films that have blood in are from the genre 'Thriller' or 'Horror' this is because they are higher rated movies which try to make the audience scared and on the edge of there seat and by introducing blood this can happen. In my groups opening sequence we used blood to represent a flashback of the girl killing the  boy.

 For example these picture are representing blood because the colour of the drink is red, and when she spills some on the table she instantly thinks back to when she killed the boy with a close up shot of her holding the drink. She thinks back to the high angled shot of the boy covered in blood laying on the floor who is helpless.

peer assessment