Thursday 12 May 2011
Thursday 7 April 2011
Question 6 Gemma
Film 4 distributes films that are English, I think that this would be a good company to produce our film because it is such a large company and the films would be produced on such a widened scale. Our film would be good associated with Film 4 as other films such as Final destination have been shown on there and that is from a similar genre to our film- physocolocial genre theme.
Final destination movie clip represents our genre
The media institution that would possibly distribute our media product would be media that is not mass media, as it is a lower scaled prduction. It could also be independant because it shows they have produced it all themselves, whearas with the BBC or ITV they are on a much wider scale and they have a company working for and with them. An institution might want to work with a smaller scaled film production as they can get involved more as the people who they would be working with, would be a good target audience for method research for planning their film. It will be useful to see how they make their films and how they reasearch with their panning, how it compares with larger and smaller companies.
Final destination movie clip represents our genre The media institution that would possibly distribute our media product would be media that is not mass media, as it is a lower scaled prduction. It could also be independant because it shows they have produced it all themselves, whearas with the BBC or ITV they are on a much wider scale and they have a company working for and with them. An institution might want to work with a smaller scaled film production as they can get involved more as the people who they would be working with, would be a good target audience for method research for planning their film. It will be useful to see how they make their films and how they reasearch with their panning, how it compares with larger and smaller companies.
Question Nine Gemma
My contributions towards the making of the media film included the process of planning, production and post production.
In preparation to making the horror we had to plan, for this I made my own share of the storyboard sheets along with the other relevant planning material such as the script etc. Then I did the recce shots along with Sophie, preparing Marie the star of the film, for makeup and design.
Also sorting out the location of the filming took quite some time, we did parts of it at all three of our houses, the majority was at my house as one of the group members dropped out, we had to change the location and film at my house, obviously we had to do the best we could about the continuity of the filming, as we tried to make it look as real as possible. The planning of the all the mis-en scene was all contributed as a group as we all shared our ideas for the party layout. Also I contributed towards the sheets on where we got our information from, for instance researching for the target audience which we wanted.
For the production part of the film, I shooted most of the film, taking into account that Sophie was acting in the film we both took equal roles. Some of the filming was quite challenging, but we helped each other as a group. The low angle shot of Marie coming down the stairs was difficult to film as the door was in the way, but we both worked together to move out any objects that were obstructing us from filming.
In addition it was difficult filming the titles as
we used a flame and it kept going out but we
both helped one and other to work as quickly
as possible to use the time we had efficiently.
Before filming I positioned the camera and white balanced and focused, hoping then the camera quality would be as good as possible. I also helped with the lighting when filming the party scene adjusting and flicking the light switches to make the scary effect when singing to Jane. With regards to the children I got my sister's and her friends to be in the film, which took quite a lot of responsibility as I had to ask their parents for permission, then Sophie asked Marie to be in the film. I also directed the children to what they had to do which took a lot of effort and became quite tiring, but they were quite well behaved.
When it came to editing the film, Rubel was helping to do the music, although we did in the end decide that we wouldn't use his as we thought it wasn't as suitable. I then edited along with Sophie, cutting and splitting the footage to put our film together. Then we both worked on sound and merged them together. We changed the sound levels, and then both recorded some digetic sound of happy birthday to go over the top of the sound.
I feel that I made a good contribution to the film, considering two of our group members dropped out I think me and Sophie coped well together.
In preparation to making the horror we had to plan, for this I made my own share of the storyboard sheets along with the other relevant planning material such as the script etc. Then I did the recce shots along with Sophie, preparing Marie the star of the film, for makeup and design.
Also sorting out the location of the filming took quite some time, we did parts of it at all three of our houses, the majority was at my house as one of the group members dropped out, we had to change the location and film at my house, obviously we had to do the best we could about the continuity of the filming, as we tried to make it look as real as possible. The planning of the all the mis-en scene was all contributed as a group as we all shared our ideas for the party layout. Also I contributed towards the sheets on where we got our information from, for instance researching for the target audience which we wanted. For the production part of the film, I shooted most of the film, taking into account that Sophie was acting in the film we both took equal roles. Some of the filming was quite challenging, but we helped each other as a group. The low angle shot of Marie coming down the stairs was difficult to film as the door was in the way, but we both worked together to move out any objects that were obstructing us from filming.
In addition it was difficult filming the titles as
we used a flame and it kept going out but we
both helped one and other to work as quickly
as possible to use the time we had efficiently.
Before filming I positioned the camera and white balanced and focused, hoping then the camera quality would be as good as possible. I also helped with the lighting when filming the party scene adjusting and flicking the light switches to make the scary effect when singing to Jane. With regards to the children I got my sister's and her friends to be in the film, which took quite a lot of responsibility as I had to ask their parents for permission, then Sophie asked Marie to be in the film. I also directed the children to what they had to do which took a lot of effort and became quite tiring, but they were quite well behaved.
When it came to editing the film, Rubel was helping to do the music, although we did in the end decide that we wouldn't use his as we thought it wasn't as suitable. I then edited along with Sophie, cutting and splitting the footage to put our film together. Then we both worked on sound and merged them together. We changed the sound levels, and then both recorded some digetic sound of happy birthday to go over the top of the sound.
I feel that I made a good contribution to the film, considering two of our group members dropped out I think me and Sophie coped well together.
Gemma Evaluation Question Four
The media product represents particular social groups, as within the film we have representations from two different social groups. There is the Mother figure who is from an older generation, and then the other group is the children are at Jane's birthday party. The main group we focus on is the children; they are portrayed as innocent in the opening of the film, apart from Jane as it appears as though she has been taken to the dark side from the possession of her doll. She seems to be 'different' from her friends and not the stereotypical child as she has been possessed. As Jane has no control over her possession of the doll she continues to act in her unusual character. The other children are very 'normal' as they are singing sweetly and being happy at what they think is a normal friend's birthday party. The other children represent stereotypical children of their age as their behaviour is very regular. The children's facial expressions and gestures that they display, tell the audience that they are having a fun time and are completely unaware to Jane’s transformation in character.
Through the use of mis-en scene with typical party house location with balloons and soft lighting, we thought a good atmosphere was created for the location. Also we thought the layout of the room was good as the camera could capture all the action from various angles. The typical party food and clothing was also desired for the film, I think that this added to the whole party scene and make it look ideal.
It was quite challenging getting the children together, and managing them was quite difficult, within the film the children look quite chaotic anyway, I feel that they represent their social group well as their characteristics were shown to be very loud and excited. We showed their behaviour through close ups and over the shoulder shots to try and capture the children's true qualities, as children at their particular age group act natural when having fun.
Thursday 17 March 2011
gemma evaluation question 5
MEDIA
Foundation Portfolio Evaluation Questions:
QU 5
Using our intended target audience, we attracted them using similar conventions that would be in other horror films, similar to ours.
We tried to use a few intercut shots to make
it look fast paced as we thought this would attract the audience.
As the older teenage audience liked suspension in their horror films. We had a variety of shot types also would make the film more interesting and varied. The films contrasting music with the lullaby and the harsher sounds would fit in nicely together as the overall mis-en scene with the flickering lights would feel quite daunting. And as the whole birthday cake idea is suppost to be cute and happy, although we show it as being the opposite as she wishes for them all to be dead.
Also when researching, we looked at the type of character to have, as we were doing a physiological we thought a young ‘innocent’ girl would be well suited as this most appeals in horror films. Using makeup we made the overall effect attract the audience and draw them into our shots. Also the birthday scene is quite action packed so the audience are drawn into it. Moreover the slow, creepy movements would be good at times to put in as the audience can then really see what’s happening, as our researched showed that the audience like tension and surprise. Our element of surprise was that at the end all the children were gone when the lights came on, so I feel that we attracted our audience with these conventions and story line. I also feel the mis-enscene throughout the film makes the tension increase.
The girl who inspired us from the Amityville horror, innocent looking, we wanted the girl to look similar to her as we used her as inspiration.
We tried to use a few intercut shots to make
it look fast paced as we thought this would attract the audience.
As the older teenage audience liked suspension in their horror films. We had a variety of shot types also would make the film more interesting and varied. The films contrasting music with the lullaby and the harsher sounds would fit in nicely together as the overall mis-en scene with the flickering lights would feel quite daunting. And as the whole birthday cake idea is suppost to be cute and happy, although we show it as being the opposite as she wishes for them all to be dead.Also when researching, we looked at the type of character to have, as we were doing a physiological we thought a young ‘innocent’ girl would be well suited as this most appeals in horror films. Using makeup we made the overall effect attract the audience and draw them into our shots. Also the birthday scene is quite action packed so the audience are drawn into it. Moreover the slow, creepy movements would be good at times to put in as the audience can then really see what’s happening, as our researched showed that the audience like tension and surprise. Our element of surprise was that at the end all the children were gone when the lights came on, so I feel that we attracted our audience with these conventions and story line. I also feel the mis-enscene throughout the film makes the tension increase.
The girl who inspired us from the Amityville horror, innocent looking, we wanted the girl to look similar to her as we used her as inspiration. |
It's good to find our audience feedback so we know our strengths and weaknesses for future reference. |
- From our evaluation research questionnaire, it tells us that our film was good in terms of ranging from different camera angles.
- They also said the lighting was really effective.
- They thought it was also great how it leaves you hanging at the end with a cliffhanger, and this is what our target audience said they liked at the beginning, this shows we successfully met their needs.
gemma evaluation question 1
MEDIA
Foundation Portfolio Evaluation Questions:
QU1
We are going to be making a horror film, with the physiological genre because we thought this would be the most interesting one to do and we all had to agree on it. We will carry out the research into the horror films by looking at other horror films that are similar with genre and the representive target audience. Also we will look on the internet and collect information about the ratings for films and find similar ones to help match up with our film. Our initial idea was inspired by ‘The Amityville Horror’ as our initial idea (although has been adapted) was that we would have killings of people at the very start, also showing very fast shots and lots of shots integrated. We have used the idea for our real horror of the similar shots. I feel that producing the film was quite a challenge as we had to film a various amount of scenes, however it went quite smoothly and we managed to work well together as a group. I worked with two group members and we mostly split the work equally. It worked out well taking turns in the different jobs. However sometimes we had to share certain jobs when there wasn’t as much to do, I don’t think this was an issue though.
The bedroom scene we were inspired by with the gloomy looking lighting.
The Amityville horror stairs inspired us for our horrorfilm as they are wooden and creepy looking, we use this idea for oursas we have a wooden banister and Jane slowly slides her hand down it.
Both of the stairs have photos's also showing the family backgrounds, this appears to the audience that there is more to the film than what they see regarding history of the characters.
Monday 7 March 2011
Evaluation Questions, Sophie Avci
Question Two: As we are doing the possession genre, we have looked at a few existing films to see the forms and conventions of this specific subgenre. After looking at films such as Amityville Horror and Paranormal Activity, we realised that possession horrors need:
Here are the user ratings from IMDB of The Exorcist. From reading this, there are two averages that are highest are ages under 18 and females under 18.
After doing all five influences, Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, Devil, Paranormal Activity and The Shining, we have established that the majority of people who watch Possession/Psychological are under 18, and of both sexes. I think that under 18's are associated with horror films because they are usually the age at when people are most naive and probably believe that the threats in film actually exist. I also believe that the films are quite relatable, as some of them contain fairly young actors, which makes it more scary to believe that it could happen to them.
To make a more effective film, we have used some of the techniques that these films have used which we believe are used to help attract the target audience, such as using a child as a threat (like Exorcist), using housing which makes the horror film more personal (like Amityville Horror) and the use of weapons which attract the males of the audience.
Question Seven:
From creating our opening sequence, I have learnt how to use many different applications that I hadn’t even considered using before. The main three that had the biggest impact on our final product were:
BLOGGER
GARAGEBAND
iMOVIE
Firstly, Blogger was useful as it helped us gather our thoughts and present them in an easy and organised fashion. Garageband helped produced our non diegetic sound using various instruments and sound effects without being too difficult to use. As we both aren’t very musical people, we used the simple keyboard which helped us create the tune without having to know the exact notes. As well as creating the basic track, we used Garageband to create the additional recorded sounds such as the whispering in the opening 20 seconds. Overall, iMovie was the most useful technology as it helped organise the clips, including the order and splitting of them. Although it wasn’t required, iMovie helped edit our clips (such as brightness/contrast in the opening section) and add transitions.
I definitely feel that Garageband and iMovie helped me be more creative as they both offer lots of different things to create a good product using only a MAC computer. I think I will use both applications again as they are very easy to use and create a professional looking product.
Overall, on iMovie I feel like I’ve learned how to import shots from a camera, split them then edit them to create various effects and I know I will use it again in future. I also feel Garageband helped as I have now learned how to create music without real instruments, and it is very easy to layer the different tracks to create professional sounding music.
Question Eight:
preliminary
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1695401048863777753&postID=6254059250410301976
or try
http://bilborough021.blogspot.com/
our final film
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5417479138662319363&postID=1219320615908155340
or try
http://bilborough501.blogspot.com/
By looking above, there are the two links which help me compare the preliminary assessment and our final horror film and how our skills have developed over the past few months. Firstly, the first thing I noticed was the shortening of the shots in our final film. In contrast to the preliminary task, the shots in our final film were all very snappy, only lasting a second or two long, whereas the preliminary had many shots that were around four or five seconds. The preliminary has no use of effects, whereas our final film makes use of video FX and transitions which adds more horror to the film and makes it more interesting for the audience to watch. I have now learnt more about composition as there were shots within the preliminary task where the objects weren't fully on the screen. I do feel though, that we did use a good range of shots within the preliminary task, like the quick cuts of the watch. I have also learnt from the preliminary that the shots needed to be cut down and not drag on as much, even though it made the quicker cuts more effective.
If we were to do the production again, I would have re shot some of the sections (for example, the kitchen scene because it is slightly canted) and focused the camera on the party scene better. And even though we were over by around 20 seconds, I would have made some of the shots longer as it was all too quick.
Question Nine:
MY CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS OUR FILM MAKING PROCESS.
Production: During the production process, we couldn't find an adult willing to act as mum in the film, meaning I had to step in. Obviously, this means I didn't film in the parts where I acted but I helped contribute my filming skills to the parts with marie (I filmed all of the opening titles and shots on the bed) and some of the party parts. Some specific shots that I filmed are:
For the production of the sound, I also created the lullaby at the start until the party scene begins in which I then contributed and it was joint decisions on the rest of the soundtrack until it reached the part where Jane opens the door to the party scene, and I created the rest of the sound.
Post Production: Once the film was all shot, I did the majority of the first splitting (getting rid of any unwanted bits but afterwards, we realised the shots were very long and dragging), and then Gemma took over and split the clips to more precise timings when we realised we were over our time limit by a minute. I then edited most of the clips, increasing the brightness/contrast on most shots as we sometimes forgot to focus the camera, so I added this video FX to add more detail. Whilst Gemma chose the transitions for the ending (the fade out) I added them to the shots.
Planning: During the planning process, I helped create the idea, along with Gemma, and I then I planned the opening titles and decided the first section of our film (from the first shot to where the mum starts making the food). I planned the shot types, angles and the order for the storyboard, even if they weren't used in our filming when we started shooting. When completing the planning folder, I did all the narrative research, and wrote the script, with some help of Gemma. I feel like I spent a lot of time and effort working on the planning folder, as once Gemma and Rubel had done the sheets they could, I went through the folder in thorough detail and finished any sheets.
 |
| Close up of hand on banister |
- a threat, in which we have used the doll. In our research, we found that they usually dont use an object as the possession, and tend to have a demon which is obviously not visible. We decided not to use it, as it could be quite difficult to make it quite realistic, and I feel the doll works well with the young girl.
close ups, especially on the possessed character, so we have incorporated a few close ups of Jane's face to reveal to the audience she is possessed, and close ups of other things, such as her hand on the banister to build tension.
- Similar to Amityville Horror, we have taken the idea of the flashing lights and used it in our Horror. We liked this idea is it creates mystery when the lights are not on. It also creates an unusual effect, and as the flashing builds up pace, it creates tension.
It is important to use research from previous successful films as it helps make our film more horrifying and it provides us with more ideas. I believe research is always best as it gives us an idea of what the film needs in order to work and be successful.
When creating our horror film, we have not challenged these conventions as although our film would be more unique if we did, we felt it would be safer to reinforce them as the conventions work for other horrors, so they should work for ours.
Question Three:
From doing IMDB research, we can conclude that the target audience for our Horror film is... females and males under 18. We have researched some of the films that influence our film and taken the user ratings to help determine the target audience for ours.
Question Three:
From doing IMDB research, we can conclude that the target audience for our Horror film is... females and males under 18. We have researched some of the films that influence our film and taken the user ratings to help determine the target audience for ours.
Votes | Average | |
18,860 |  5.8 | |
3,830 |  6.2 | |
338 |  6.8 | |
242 |  7.0 | |
94 |  6.1 | |
14,926 |  6.0 | |
12,225 |  6.0 | |
2,666 |  6.4 | |
6,395 |  5.6 | |
5,483 |  5.6 | |
855 |  5.7 | |
1,002 |  5.4 | |
808 |  5.4 | |
183 |  5.5 | |
401 |  5.2 | |
7,517 |  5.8 | |
13,901 |  5.9 |
 |
| I think that the audience will like this film because there is use of weapons (young men find weapons fun) and the use of young man actor to relate to. |
Here are the user ratings for our biggest influence, Amityville Horror. From reading the average, we can tell that this film was watched most by males under 18.
Votes | Average | |
73,410 |  8.1 | |
11,892 |  7.9 | |
1,142 |  8.5 | |
900 |  8.4 | |
239 |  8.5 | |
47,181 |  8.0 | |
40,261 |  8.1 | |
6,724 |  7.8 | |
28,900 |  8.1 | |
25,125 |  8.1 | |
3,502 |  8.0 | |
7,938 |  8.2 | |
6,548 |  8.2 | |
1,305 |  7.9 | |
19 |  8.4 | |
800 |  8.1 | |
29,732 |  8.3 | |
49,714 |  8.0 | |
IMDb users | 106,761 |  8.1 |
 |
| I think females will like this because they can relate to the actress (makes more scary to believe can happen to women). The use of shadows is good, and the setting that it is simply a girls bedroom probably makes the females under 18 want to watch as they have bedrooms which makes it more scary for them. |
Here are the user ratings from IMDB of The Exorcist. From reading this, there are two averages that are highest are ages under 18 and females under 18.
After doing all five influences, Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, Devil, Paranormal Activity and The Shining, we have established that the majority of people who watch Possession/Psychological are under 18, and of both sexes. I think that under 18's are associated with horror films because they are usually the age at when people are most naive and probably believe that the threats in film actually exist. I also believe that the films are quite relatable, as some of them contain fairly young actors, which makes it more scary to believe that it could happen to them.
To make a more effective film, we have used some of the techniques that these films have used which we believe are used to help attract the target audience, such as using a child as a threat (like Exorcist), using housing which makes the horror film more personal (like Amityville Horror) and the use of weapons which attract the males of the audience.
 |
| Main Character out of The Exorcist, a young girl, like ours. |
 |
| The House from Amityville Horror. We also have used a house |
 |
| The use of large gun from Amityville Horror attracts males. |
Question Seven:
 |
| Musical Typing (simple keyboard) |
BLOGGER
GARAGEBAND
iMOVIE
 |
| Our whispering using orion vocals |
 |
| Editing Clips changing Brightness and Contrast |
 |
| Increased Brightness and Contrast |
I definitely feel that Garageband and iMovie helped me be more creative as they both offer lots of different things to create a good product using only a MAC computer. I think I will use both applications again as they are very easy to use and create a professional looking product.
Overall, on iMovie I feel like I’ve learned how to import shots from a camera, split them then edit them to create various effects and I know I will use it again in future. I also feel Garageband helped as I have now learned how to create music without real instruments, and it is very easy to layer the different tracks to create professional sounding music.
 |
| Layered Music on Garageband |
Question Eight:
preliminary
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1695401048863777753&postID=6254059250410301976
or try
http://bilborough021.blogspot.com/
our final film
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5417479138662319363&postID=1219320615908155340
or try
http://bilborough501.blogspot.com/
By looking above, there are the two links which help me compare the preliminary assessment and our final horror film and how our skills have developed over the past few months. Firstly, the first thing I noticed was the shortening of the shots in our final film. In contrast to the preliminary task, the shots in our final film were all very snappy, only lasting a second or two long, whereas the preliminary had many shots that were around four or five seconds. The preliminary has no use of effects, whereas our final film makes use of video FX and transitions which adds more horror to the film and makes it more interesting for the audience to watch. I have now learnt more about composition as there were shots within the preliminary task where the objects weren't fully on the screen. I do feel though, that we did use a good range of shots within the preliminary task, like the quick cuts of the watch. I have also learnt from the preliminary that the shots needed to be cut down and not drag on as much, even though it made the quicker cuts more effective.
 |
| It should have been more of an extreme close up or the whole watch should have been in shot |
 |
| Slightly canted angle, fridge isn't straight . |
If we were to do the production again, I would have re shot some of the sections (for example, the kitchen scene because it is slightly canted) and focused the camera on the party scene better. And even though we were over by around 20 seconds, I would have made some of the shots longer as it was all too quick.
Question Nine:
MY CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS OUR FILM MAKING PROCESS.
Production: During the production process, we couldn't find an adult willing to act as mum in the film, meaning I had to step in. Obviously, this means I didn't film in the parts where I acted but I helped contribute my filming skills to the parts with marie (I filmed all of the opening titles and shots on the bed) and some of the party parts. Some specific shots that I filmed are:
For the production of the sound, I also created the lullaby at the start until the party scene begins in which I then contributed and it was joint decisions on the rest of the soundtrack until it reached the part where Jane opens the door to the party scene, and I created the rest of the sound.
 |
| The Lullaby |
 |
| During the fade to black transition |
Post Production: Once the film was all shot, I did the majority of the first splitting (getting rid of any unwanted bits but afterwards, we realised the shots were very long and dragging), and then Gemma took over and split the clips to more precise timings when we realised we were over our time limit by a minute. I then edited most of the clips, increasing the brightness/contrast on most shots as we sometimes forgot to focus the camera, so I added this video FX to add more detail. Whilst Gemma chose the transitions for the ending (the fade out) I added them to the shots.
 |
| Opening Titles |
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