The Unheard

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How Did You Use Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Evaluation Stages?

The use of media technologies has been used to great levels within all stages of our media products, especially in the areas of planning, consruction, research and evaluation.

Firstly when constructing our media project, we needed technology the most, as this involved edits, cuts, sound etc. Our projected included constructing a film poster, magazine front cover, and film trailer. I feel that the technology used for our A2 was better of from the technology used for AS this is because, in AS we used pinnacle studio 12, whereas for A2 we used power director 9. After filming our trailer we had to put it together, this was with the use of power director 9, and we had to cut some of the clips to make them shorter and to enable the overall project flow more efficiently. We also added in transitions and included music instead of a voiceover for the trailer. Constructing our film trailer is the most technology dependant area as a lot of construction was to be made such as editing techniques. However the film poster and magazine cover also included the use of a lot of technology as we had to incorporate similar images along all three projects. The whole of our media project wouldnt have been successful without the use of technology, so was very dependant upon it, in its construction involving camera use, tripod's, and video camera. The camera was useful for our still images for our magazine cover and poster and the video handy camera was useful for our actual film trailer. The tripod enabled us to have more steady shots, insteady of handheld which would have made it more shakey and less useful to our storyline. We used photoshop to help handle the use of images for the ancilliary tasks, this program allowed us to layer photo's over one another if neccessary to give a better impacted outcome.

Our research was produced from the use of internet programs such as Youtube. Furstly I watched video clips such as trailers to research into existing trailers to give ideas for my final piece. Youtuube was a useful tool as it allowed me to gather other peoples idea's from the feedback tool. This allowed us to put other peoples thoughts into consideration. Furthermore, the internet also enabled us to use sites such as google images to help research into different magazine covers and posters to gather a insight to what would be the best for our tasks.

Technology was used a lot in our planning as we had to take different shots to see which would be the best for our ancilliary tasks, this was produced with the use of cameras, we were also able to use handy cameras to film and choose parts of filming for better shots. Other technology programs such as microsoft word, powerpoint and excel also was useful to help produce scripts for the team to follow, graphs and pie charts to show audience feedback in a different form rather than worded. I also used slideshare which was a internet sight which enabled me to upload images, wright about the images, and upload to by blogger, this was a useful technology tool as it gave a different view of findings and information rather than being all simplistic. Email was another source of technology as it allowed us as a group to transfer picures through attachments, as we needed images of one another for identity of job roles.

We finally uploaded all our project including, research, planning, and finally evaluation up to web 2.0 blogspot, this helped us gain user feedback from peers and teachers, which could in theory be our possible audience.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

To firstly make our film trailer appeal to a wider target audience, we decided to produce questionnaires for people to fill in so we could therefore incorportae there answers when producing our film, this would be relative as our trailer would then appeal more so than just using our own ideas.

To gather audiences feedback overall I asked selected people from diufferent age groups and different gender to watch my main product, (my trailer). I firstly got a boy and a girl of the same age group to watch my video to see how there opinions differed. The feedback which I recieved was quite positive as I was told I used various shots/angles/movements, and the sortyline was quite clear, from the use of flashbacks and different lighting techniques, such as high key and low key. The different use of shots such as match on action, high angle, low angle, close up, and medium shots help gather a storyline that matches on a trailer.

The male feedback however was positive but not as much as the females, I personally put this down to the storyline, as it revolves around female emotions, this is because it is a female mental patient living in a institution. There are no male characters in our product so therefore doesnt appeal to males so much. However they do note that they enjoy the use of weapons, blood and gore, it helped build up tension, excitment, and effective as nobody knew who who the patient was going to kill if she was going to kill anybody.

The female feedback was positive completely, as the storyline portrayed many female emotions and hormones, however the way they are expressed are very outrageous. The females also enjoyed the tension built up and stated that this made it a lot more exciting.

From receiving information about peoples views on our media product, this helped me understand my positive points and my negative points, where I could improve next time and what to keep the same. I firstly understand that to produce a much wider audience next time round, include both male and female actors, to make it more appealing to both genders.

How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Texts?

All three media products; the film poster, film magazine and film trailer, I believe work very well together and portray a traditional horror image, from the use of horror conventions, micro and macro features. I also believe that each product would work well on their own and people would have a strong insight about what genre the film is. The picture portrayed on the film poster and the magazine cover gives the audience a sense of what the film is likely to be based upon, this is because of the creepy white eye contacts along with the pale skin. Ancilliary tasks working alone is very important as together it then makes a stronger package, but together is more important. We firstly started of our project by producing our trailer firstly, which helped us incorporate our film poster and magazine cover successfully, due to having different shots to choose from. The idea of producing our film trailer first allowed us to have a common theme which would run through all three products to show a connection between them. The connection was made through the use of same colours and similar shots, (being able to signify the same character in different shots enabled our products to link up more successfully). From reference to our previous AS coursework we decided to base our colour scheme on our A2 a little brighter to show more clearer images and sense of storyline. It was a lot easier to use the same colour scheme throughout all three products as the genre horror incorporate a more stronger image that relates to one another. As our film is based on a clinical storyline, there is use of soft colours such as soft green and blue, this was useful to us as our setting has these colours included within the walls. Our trailer leaves a question on the audience asking, 'who dies?' and whether they die for a reason, this leaves the audience in suspence to what has happened to the main character and why she wants revenge. This is shown throughout the trailer with the use of flashbacks to her childhood, and her life to the current day. Also the use of anger and frustration the main girl is portraying and her trying to escape from the institution. The image of her running and trying to escape we have carried on to our film poster, as it is a very clear and understandable shot along with the use of headings and rhetorical question. The rhetorical question we have carried as a tagline throughout all three of our products, this is likely to leave the audience asking themselves what will happen next, if revenge is made or is it a mystery? This is something that the audience may want to find an answer to, this involves watching the film to find out the answer. Overall these essentials work well together as it leaves the audience wanting to find out further information, leading them to watching the film which is likely to make the film successful. The use of similar images and tagline throughout all products allows the film to be more noticable for the audience, which helps broadcast it and make it more popular. All elements put together make the project work well together and help show the same themes throughout, leaving the audience wondering what the outcome will be, which I believe is extremely important as this creates bringing more people to watch the film to find out the answer.

Evaluation - In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

I first started analysing different media products, focusing on different types of genres, such as musicals, horror, action etc, this was to help give me a brief outline about what genre I wanted to focus on. Due to having a more experience in the horror genre from my AS coursework I decided this would be a better choice. I noticed the sustained use of conventions such as, scary images, blood, weapons, and dull gloomy settings. From this research I incorporated these conventions within my horror trailer, as it helps indicate the genre. I used these conventions in slightly different forms when integrating them within my own media product, as a group we firstly decided to portray a scarier image by using white eye contacts, with pale skin and dark hair, this image specifies a terryfying person out to hurt others as it is not the everyday look a person would wear. Due to our storyline, we couldnt place our setting within a dark gloomy location such as the woods, so therefore we used a school as our location, this was for the reason that our storyline is based on a the upbringing of a young girl and how it has had a major effect on her life, and driven her into a mental institution.

In our film trailer, we decided to use certain shots to reveal what the film is going to be about, however not too much, this is because from audience feedback we found they like the stryline to be 50% proven. The shots we decided to embrace was a shot of a young girl in a park, being left out by other young peers around her, this shot however is in black and white to show previous years, as it is a trailer containing flashbacks.

Our media product uses micro features and conventions of a horror genre upright in many scenes of the film. Firstly our trailer resembles flashbacks of a young girls childhood, and her life today. In our media product, to create a more daunting image and for people to signify what genre our film is, we used close up shots of the main girl, this is because she has creepy eyes, from wearing white eye contacts to portray a more negative and frightening image. We also use shots with the mental patient standing in front of the mirror looking at her appearence, this makes the audience question whether the patient is clear on what her life has tranformed into. Using high angle shots of the young girl in the park isolated from other children, makes the scene unsettling as children are usually put first, however in this case a poor childhood is portrayed. Also when recieving research back from our questionnaires it was outlined that the majority of people prefer fast pace editing when watching film trailers to help build up excitment and tension. This therefore gave us ideas to how to put together our trailer, and because of this it helped us develop skills such as including fast pace editing to help widen our audience.

The mise en scene we combined within our media product, helped us create a residential horror to encourage tension building up for our target audience throughout the trailer. The use of setting and location alongside the behaviour from the main acress (antagonist) helps establish that the situationo takes place in a medical looking environment such as an institution, this location does have connotations of a horror genre, however not so much as a forest. The costume and use of make - up connotes that the girl is in either a hospital or a institution, this is shown by the use of a hospital night gown, bare feet, and very pale skin, the complete image indicates that the genre could well be horror, as a hospital and the behaviour put forward by the actor is very negative.

Barthes enigma code suggests that a text, whether that being television, a film, or a poster, which portrays a mystery to grab the audiences attention, and pose questions onto the audience, for example who murder her? - using this theory as reference to my media product it is clear that our trailer asks the question who is she out to kill?

Poster

Magazine Cover

Mind Map

This is a mind map off initial ideas we came up with which we believe you are likely to find within a horror genre. We also plan to use many of these ideas within our trailer, as we have chosen horror also. The mind map includes possible settings likely to be used within horror such as deserted woods, isolated buildings, deserted house and more. The reason we choose to use a setting and in some cases more than one setting is to help attract a wider target audience. Titles also say alot about what type of film it is which is very important when targeting a particular audience, as some people prefer certain genres to others and this can have effect when choosing a title. The make - up that will be used will be very pale as we need to portray a pale complextion.

Call Sheets

These are two call sheets I produced to help when filming our trailer. This explained what actions would need to be taken on set days. On the first day we filmed we decided to film a mini scene of the nurse as only two shots are needed so the first day is best to not have to worry whilst filming the rest as the other character has a larger part and therefore need more time. Whilst filming we tried to include as many conventions of a horror as possible to make it more appealing. For example we filmed a girl banging her head against a wall looking very scary with white eye contacts in. On the first day of filming we had the main character on set and the nurse, however it is not just the two characters throughout the whole of the film, it is the trailer.

Storyboard

As a group we planned our film trailer by firstly drawing out a sketched diagram of a storyboard. This is the storyboard we used for our trailer. The storyboard has a sentence on each shot explaining what is going on in the shot and how long it will last for, it also explains what camera techniques we will use and what we are trying to emphasize. We will also explain on the diagram whether we are using any sound within that shot and if or not it will be non diagetic or diagetic. We also included still image diagrams as a second source of planning for a storyboard to show clear images of our trailer. Clearer images are shown and changes are able to be made.

Cast List and Job Roles

Cast List

Our film trailer is based on a horror, so therefore had to allocate appropriate actors to suit such roles. As our trailer only shows two actors this became quite easy as one had a very simple role, the other however had a much more enthusiatic role and had to be very confident. We came to a choice to film Jade Cruise as the main actor and Charlotte Magill for the more simplistic role.

Jade Cruie as_____________

Jade is my group partner. Her job role was to research into the horror genre and input in the planning, (all members of the group created there own research), to make our trailer, film poster and magazine cover effective. From previous experience in our AS coursework I noticed Jade was also very creative which helps significantly with creating a film poster and magazine cover, Jade is capable of outlining the best ideas to attract a audience. As a group we also decided to give Jade the role as the main character , the mental patient as she felt most confident, she also filmed in our previous opening for AS. Jade had the most responsibility for the acting in the trailer. As an individual she felt that she would succeed in producing a very professional and successful trailer overall, Jade is very enthusiastic and able to portray emotions effectively.

Charlotte Magill as Nurse

Me, Charlotte Magill was the only other member of the group who felt comfortable with acting as the other member didnt feel comfortable. However I was not the main acress. I did not want to take on the main role as I felt I was not so good with my acting skills, however the role I was given was very simplistic so therefore I was up for it. As I only had a shot of walking down the corridor and did not have to take up any lines so felt this role suited me best. I did not have a main job role, however I did take part in all set tasks the group had to produce such as the magazine front cover, the poster, ideas for the whole project and filming. Another job role i had to take action with was the camera operator, I helped out my partner Jade Goldie in taking different shots and movement skills. Overall I felt I did the best I could and aimed to use the best shots and movement to create a meaning of the trailer. There were a majority of shots used with the use of a tripod, which meant the camera was very still and portrayed strong meaning, I found this was very useful as the genre horror is very itself.

Job Roles

There was a number of roles that myself and my two partners had to allocate each to. Each member of the group had different skills so therefore suited different roles. We have been able to outline our different skills over the two year period of the media course. As a group we identified that Jade Goldie was best suited for the camera work as she felt most comfortable, she also did not like being withing the eye of the camera so therefore this role suited her best, however myself (Charlotte Magill) did help with numerous shots. We decided that Jade Cruise was best for the main actress as she had more experience within the scenes and had more practice in front of the camera rather than behind it. All three members of the group would help contribute to porducing the magazine cover along with the film poster. This would mean that all members have to include creativity skills to incorporate a high standard level of work. However, due to Jade Goldie not taking any action in front of the camera and taking responsibility for the camera, she took a more catered role in producing the magazine and poster, Whilst Jade Cruise obliged a more in depth role in acting. Myself however contributed to acting, helping with the camera, the poster and the magazine front cover. All members of the group will take credit in editing our trailer overall as will all share a range of different skills. Jade cruise however will take a more leading role in this task as she is more stronger at this.

Jade Goldie

Shooting Script

The shooting script on the left helped us understand what actions we were going to take on each day, what we were going to film and what acctresstes we needed. What props we were going to use and what dialogue we were going to use, however for our trailer we did not have much dialogue. For example below shows that on the 12th March we aimed to film both locations, use various shots and angles however not all shots. We also included filming both the characters on the same day as the one acress did not have a big part. Other shooting scripts we have produced shows other shots and angles used within our trailer.

Prop List

On the left is a diagram of our prop list. This in total helped organise our film and helped keep it in proportion and helped us gather all goods before filming. Props hel;p establish the scene so in a horror film or in any genre, props are very important, a more natural image is portrayed. Some props we are not able to use correctly, for exmple we are not able to use real blood so therefore have to buy fake blood or summet that looks very realistic. Props such as a stethoscope however we are able to use realisticly as members of the group have such items.

Costume and make - up is another aspect we have to consider as a group, the main character, the antagonist will be wearing very pale make - up however a significant amount to portray a pale image, the eye contacts will also help set the genre and is part of the characters make - up, the costume of the antagonist also portays a stong image and story as it is a hospital gown, and the whole body expressions given portray a stong sense of storyline. Body language used by the antagonist also the trailer in total helps the audience outline much of the genre. The behaviour portrayed by this character tends to be uncontrolable, and very dangerous, hence the reason living in a institution.

Shot List

On the left is a shot list.

We decided to produce a range of different shots to use within our trailer to incorporate a better result. We included various shots, angles, and movements, this overall will support use when filming as we have a set plan and should be fairly straight forward as it wont be out of proportion, nor will we be confused. However we may come to a stage where we may not put forward various shots.

To reinforce our ideas on the horror genre I researched films and watched trailers to help identify the best shots, angles and editing techniques to include in our production. One horror film I researched into was the uninvited, however I researched the poster on the horror film. In the trailer of the univited however http:///www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqZpkxKPFQk I noticed that there were a number of fade to blacks which sets the genre of horror to the audience. These shots were very dependant at the beginning of the trailer which sets the mood for the audience. For this reason I will focus on using such techniques within my horror trailer. I noticed a significant number of close up and medium shots which contributes to the genre of the film as people are in more suspense and affraid of whats to happen next, close up shots help signify emotion and expression. I also noticed a strong low angle shot which also makes the audience question themselves about what is looking up at the character. The various shots and angles overall made the trailer more appealing and interesting to the audience, so including such techniques within my own trailer is very important as I aim to face the needs of the audience.

Location

Presentation

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The first location shown on the slideshow above is Parkhall Academy. We chose to film in our school as the setting is a mental institution and I believe it doesnt look like a hospital put pulls of a institution look, mainly from the outside. The shots we intend to take are also in some forms isolated which relate to an institutional view and the storyline also revolves around a girl being isolated from peers and the wider world. As our trailer is a genre of horror the school is an ideal place and the closest location we could film in as a hospital would not be appropriate for medical reasons. The location is good for us to portray images and clips of isolation and a girl trying to escape, large wide windows with no possibility of opening helps our trailer create this image.

Questionnaire and Results

Our results came to show very useful opinions from different people, at different ages, we were able to listen to these opinions and take action when producing our trailer. The graph below asks the question 'who do you prefer to see in your trailer' the majority of respondants answeres the main character which is understandable as the majority of respondants would prefer to see the main character which is why they are likely to view the film. We supported there opinion as the film is produced to target a audience and therefore we will include the main actress within the trailer.

The pie chart on the left asks the question ' what do you enjoy about film trailers?' The majority of respondants enjoy trailers because it builds up an insight about the film so therefore encourages them to watch the film in full. As a group we will aim to produce a trailer with a clear storyline however one that doesnt give all away, we will also aim to make is exciting as this contributes to building up insights about the film as the audience are likely to question about it.

This chart asks the question 'do you prefer fast pace or slow pace trailers?' the majority answered fast over slow which is recognisable as the film is targeted towards young adults/ teenagers and these groups prefer excitment. Fast pace helps build up excitment. From different peoples opinion we aim to include a lot of fast pace which also helps build up excitment, however there will be slow pace also for the audience to understand whats happening in certain shots.

Another question asked is 'How much of the narrative do you prefer to see?' Many respondants answered 50%, this means half of the storyline to be shown which is a significant amount of the story. However the audience would want to know what they are going to watch. We will use peoples opinion to help support our trailer to help it become successful, we will include a strong narrative so the audience understand what the film is going to be about and if it is there type of film they are likely to watch it, however we dont intend to include the full narrative as this gives away the film and less people are likely to go ahead and watch it as they feel they have already seen the majority.

The picture on the left is one of the questionnaires a member of the audience filled out. The results from the questionnaires showed that the most common places the audience would prefer to watch new released films are on the internet and cinemas. From these results I believe the best platform to release my product through will be through the internet and cinemas too, however to widen the availability to watch my product I will also release my product on DVD in near future and technology such as iphone apps etc. Through the results of my questionnaire I also noticed that the majority of respondants of all ages enjoy watching film trailers to gather an insight about the film and too see future releases and also to see when there favourite actor will next be staring. This then encourages the audience to pay to see the full viewing of the movie in public places such as the cinemas or by it in future on DVD. This has a positive knock on effect on the audience when a popular or well known star is in film as it creates a fan base and a buzz amongst the vast majority of the audience. My questionnaire also suggests that the audience prefer to see 50% of the narrative in the trailer so they know what the basis of the film is going to be about, the genre and style however does also allow some of the film to be a suprise when they go to watch the full version. The trailer also allows you to see a diverse range of locations and actors which makes the film seem more appealing towards the audience. This is important when producing a storyline because you have to appreciate using a restricted narrative in the trailer which will create interest and enigma. In contrast to this, respondants also felt that the use of titles in a trailer are just as important, this is because it allows important information to be transferred across such as the title of the film, the release date and the main characters. Out of the complete 12 questionnaires, 8 people said that they prefer fast pace trailers in addition to slow pace, this builds up more excitment and drive to take further actions to watching the film in full, they also stated that they prefer to see the main character in the trailer, subtitles and a range of different locations as this also sets the mood and genre of the film. The information the audience expected to see from a trailer is the basic narrative outline, the genre of the film and additional information such as the release date.

Conventions of a Horror

Above are different conventions of a horror genre which as a group we are highly likely to use. There are several possibilities we could use, however we may only choose to use a few, for example one or two settings.

Target Audience.

Horror films are usually typically aimed at teenagers and young adults. The audience of horror films are mostly interested in feeling an adrenaline rush from being fearful, fear is built up from thrills scary music, setting and costume. This helps build up excitement for the audience and the significant number of people watching these horrors are young adults/teenagers. Although horror films are viewed in a negative light they sell very well as young people tend to find them appealing whereas critics find them disturbing and view them more negatively. Because of this assumption the majority of horror films are targeted towards a high number of teens as they are more likely to accept the faults shown in horror films more so than the older generation. However some of the older generation still find horror films appealing and will be up for watching them. Films such as 28 days later are aimed towards older people however this film appeals to a massive number of teenagers.

The target audience we have decided to aim our film towards is females. Although the horror genre is usually aimed towards men, our film has a storyline which is most likely to appeal towards females rather than males and as a group we agreed to subvert this typical convention to form a wider demographic. Another reason this would have a wider female audience rather than males is because females are more likely to relate to this storyline if they have had past experiences or if they know other members to have been in such situations. Males on the other hand tend to push these situations aside or feel they cannot cope deep down to talk about these problems such as mental disorders so deal with them in a different way, therefore males arent likely to find this storyline very appealing. Even though not all women find themselves in a situation where they have experienced mental illness or know of someone with this illness, they are still likely to watch it more so than men because they find such topics more appealing and interesting and are likely to take information from films.

Case Study - The Omen

The Omen is a 1976 horror film which leaves the audience in suspense. The Omen is highly likely to attract males due to the sexually objectified women, blood and gore and the violence. The Omen is of the supernatural thriller and the weapons are of an everyday nature which are used to kill damien victims, these weapons are likely to attract males more so than women because they tend to be more fascinated and the infliction of violence on somebody else is seen as exciting to males.