Evaluation - Jack Bumstead

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

Within our media product we gradually instilled techniques common of the thriller genre, I discovered this from my personal research of actual thriller openings.

One technique we made use of in our thriller opening is iconography, with use of low key lighting (in terms of mise en scene) and props such as a briefcase, the extract became immediately similar to that of the thriller genre. The de-saturated colour we used also help to make the film as iconographic to thriller films as possible, we can see this from where it is used in 'Silence of the Lambs'.








Throughout the product, we use a range of sound techniques to create a dark and sinister atmosphere - used as parallel sound with the plot - with use of beats to create pace, simultaneously affecting the time. This sort of non-diegetic sound is common of the films I have researched such as 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'The Usual Suspects'.









Similar again to 'The Usual Suspects' in our thriller film we used restricted and unrestricted narration in such a way as to allow the spectator to develop emotions and a closeness to the main female protagonist. Whilst creating a distant impression towards the male antagonist, therefore supporting the binary opposition we intended to create.

With use of the restricted narration of the antagonist this consequently created what turned out as the biggest enigma in our extract, allowing the spectator to feel involved and curious, intriguing them as much as possible.

Another enigma created towards the beginning of our opening is "Who is she and why is she so desperate to find Ghost?" (referring to the female protagonist). An enigma at the start of an opening is very typical of the thriller genre, as this technique was used most prominently in the opening of 'Shutter Island', which I researched, this allowed us to use and develop further conventions of more openings.

Conversely, our opening did challenge some forms of real media products, for example, in 'The Lovely Bones' where chronology is used, allowing the spectator to get an understanding of the context of the film. Our opening challenges this because is ours is more ambiguous, generating an ambiguous and tense atmosphere. 

Another technique used in our thriller opening is match on action, we use this multiple times, once where the protagonist pushes the chair back and reaches for her phone and again, when she is opening the door to leave. This technique creates continuity through editing, this technique is used commonly in thriller films, to create fast pace and make the process flow as well as possible.

The 180 degree rule is also typical of a thriller film, however, in our opening we challenge this convention, in an attempt to create ambiguity and create tension, as spectators would expect to see the 180 degree rule being used. We break this ideology to make our piece more diverse in relation to films such as 'Pulp Fiction' which does use the 180 degree rule, whilst also relating to films like this as much as possible in different ways.

One of these ways is pathetic fallacy, we use pathetic fallacy as the protagonist walks down a dark street in the night time. This is use of pathetic fallacy as the darkness creates a dark atmosphere (also created by parallel sound of dark music). Pathetic fallacy is a technique I found in my research of 'Shutter Island', where a "storm's coming".










Looking at camerawork within our piece I can make many comparisons between ours and actual thriller openings. Throughout our opening we use mostly medium close up and close up shots. Similar to the films I have researched, these shots are common in every film I researched which meant it would make sense for us to use these shots mostly in our piece, in order to use forms and conventions of the real media products I researched.

The angles we use are mainly mid angles and high angles towards the end, to create a sense of lower power. Mid angles are, again, used in every film I researched, whereas high angles aren't so common, only being used in 'The Usual Suspects', therefore, this method could challenge the camerawork used in thriller openings. However, in comparison to 'The Usual Suspects' where high angles are used, similar to our piece, to represent power and authority, it shows that our piece has used the camerawork to develop a social group and generates power through camerawork.

Towards the end of the piece we also use a focus pull, to create a sense of unconsciousness and the protagonist being dazed. Another camerawork technique we use is a shallow depth of field, which is used throughout, similar to 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Lovely Bones', this makes it seem as though the protagonist is trapped, and perhaps unaware of this, shown through her calm and composed personality.

In relation to plot and structure, we ensured to add the main plot into the opening so that people felt gripped and intrigued to find out more, shown from some feedback. If we were to create the entire film, in terms of ordering we would use non-chronological techniques, so that the story could unravel over time, after finding out the plot. We also used non-chronology in our preliminary task.

As well as using restricted narration, we also use other devices to engage the spectator. Some examples of these devices are point of view shots in terms of camerawork, so that they could get a view and understanding of the characters, we also did this in our preliminary task. Another, being the creation of binary oppositions, so that the spectators develop a relationship towards different characters. This helps to engage the audience by making them feel as though they know the characters. We also used this technique in our preliminary task, both with the female protagonist being introduced first, allowing the spectators to immediately 'side' with her.

Preliminary Task                                                                                      Full Product

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? (PREZI)

Click On Image

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

The media product we (as an Independent British Film Production Company) have produced is a Low Budget Thriller. As we are an Independent British Film Production Company it meant that we were working with smaller budgets. Some popular example of other Independent British Film Production Companies are 'Momentum', 'Pathe' and 'Studiocanal'. According to the BBC Film network website, independent film distribution in the UK is usually managed by indie distributors such as Metrodome, Optimum Releasing and Momentum.


Film distribution brings films to life and connects them with the audiences.

There are three stages in which a film goes through from beginning as an idea to finishing with spectators watching it. The first stage is Film Production which involves the making of the film. Secondly, Film Distribution must take place which involves the distributor getting the film from the Production company and securing the placement of the film on an exhibitor's screen and for home viewing. Followed by, the third stage which is the Film Exhibition which is where the audience watch the film, this is traditionally the Cinema but is becoming more complicated. This is because of digital distribution. Whereas the place of exhibition in the analogue age was commonly cinemas, TV and DVD, it is becoming more common in this digital age that home viewing is changing massively due to digital revolution.

 Before                                                                                                            After
 


This is because films are becoming more accessible on new devices and platforms. Mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets, as well as games consoles are becoming much more popular for viewing films at home. Not only this, but there are also new suppliers of films, for example, Sky, Netflix and YouTube being a few of the diverse amount.

"Netflix signs first UK film deal ahead of 2012 launch"

Recently, Xbox live members have been spending more time watching TV, films and listening to music than gaming online. Because of this dramatic development, Microsoft also felt that they had to develop their dashboard and as a result, they modified the appearance by inserting a 'TV & Movies' tab in the toolbar. Not just this, but in 2011, the Xbox 360 dashboard shifted the prominence of gaming and referred to it as one of the several features that the device could be used for.

"TV and movies overtake online gaming on Xbox 360"


Futhermore, with this idea of movies overtaking online gaming on gaming consoles, an Independent British Film called 'PULP' is being distributed through a digital games console platform instead of being distributed to cinemas or DVD. This means that the production company will get money each tie someone watches their film. The creator of the film Adam Hamdy as set that the distribution for Independent British Films has narrowed drastically, and so this seemed like the best option to partake in. One reason I imagine this film is being distributed via games console is because all of the main characters are men, which suggests the film will be a 'lads' comedy. This is well suited to games consoles, because stereotypically, more men are deemed to own games consoles than women.

This shows that the distribution of films is changing drastically in the 21st century.  Looking at the standard film release, it usually consists of films going into theatrical releases, such as cinemas in 0-4 months. A DVD is then released 4-6 months after. Then, 6 months after, the film can be viewed by paying on TV or a Video On Demand (streaming or downloading). Finally, after about 2 years, the film is free to air TV such as BBC, ITV, etc.

With our media product we would have to go through the various stages of any film distribution, with the first, being licensing. Here, we would give the distributor (in our case a UK independent distribution company) the legal rights to exploit the film in return for a financial return. The licence will state what the distribution company will pay us (as the producers) which would commonly be an equal share for different profits. We'd then work with the distributor to market the film, but with our low budgets this will be minimal. One marketing strategy we could use is 'Google', as this strategy is free and used worldwide, meaning it is open to everyone who chooses to watch it, this is one advantage. This will generate lots of views, and with use of 'YouTube' we could still allow spectators and audiences to view and research our product. Another is film festivals e.g. 'Sundance', as this would promote our film to a wide audience and is not out of our budget. Although, this could be a disadvantage as where we could distribute it cheaper on 'Google' it may also get more views on there than compared to the festival, so we could lose money.




The third process we would go through is prints and advertising of our film. Here, the costs are met by the distributor and we may print as few as 10 prints to 200 each coming in at around £1500 per copy. With our final product I believe we would use 'Google' and 'YouTube' to distribute our product. We would do this because our target audience of 15 -24 year old C1 upper middle social class of 50% male and 50% female (shown from our previous target audience post, left) are not as likely to go to theatre releases, such as in the cinema, this is clear from the Pearl and Dean website (right). 

Our audience would be able to download or watch our videos quickly and easily and I think that is a main factor that will appeal to them. We would release our film country wide so that as many people as possible can watch the film. If we distributed our film through festivals I believe we would use multiplex because that would appeal most to our target audience, and relates to our modern film. If our film were perhaps more traditional we might consider using an Art House. Looking at our target audience, we can see that the certificate we would give our film would probably be a 12 or 15, as there is mild violence and reference to torture.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our media product will be of mixed genders, this is one reason why we used both a male and a female character. The age of which we imagine our film will be suitable for is a 12 - 15 rating with a demographic of young adults and teens (11 - 17) we chose this age because, not only are our characters of a similar age to this. But, also we are a similar age to this and we can get an understanding of how/what to film and edit, therefore, making our final product appeal to the product as much as possible. By looking at the Pearl and Dean website, it is apparent that this audience are most in favour of thriller films, as shown in the screen grab below from our previous post about audiences.















Looking at Pearl and Dean's website, I have found a contemporary example of a thriller film, which is 'Non-Stop'. The audience is 38% 15-24 with around 50% male and 50% female, the social class with the highest percentage is also C1, similar to our target audience. With reference to the 'Rotten Tomatoes' website I have discovered that 59% of the people who watched the film rated it well. This shows that the audience the same as ours really do like other real thriller films.

Further evidence of this is 'Gravity' which is extremely popular on 'Rotten Tomatoes' with a rating of 97%, the audience is also very similar to ours, as shown in the screen grabs from the 'Pearl and Dean' website below.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Our audience would enjoy our film because everyone of the age we have set as our target audience is looking for a thrill and enjoy abnormal and fantasy films. This is evident from the ratings in the question above.

Looking at the story told through the narrative, the restricted narration creating an enigma will really appeal to our audience, leaving them 'on the edge of their seat' and intrigued to find out more. As our target audience also enjoy sinister and creepy thriller films, this means that our opening will attract them, as the story is such a dark and twisted narrative. The camera work we have used will also attract our audience because we have used such a wide range of different techniques, these techniques keep the plot as interesting as possible. With diverse and usually subverted shots in some thriller films such as over the shoulder shots and birds eye view shots being used, this keeps the story unique as well as creative through use of these shots.

Mise en scene is another reason why our audience will enjoy our film, with making the costume, hair and make-up rather similar to our target audience's age, this makes them relate and see similarities between Abigail or Ghost and themselves. This will attract our audience, as aforementioned, because the demographic like to watch fantasy, thriller films meaning they may like comparing themselves to the characters, especially with girls wanting to be like Abigail. Another aspect of mise en scene which will address our audience is the setting and props, being similar to that of everyday life, this generates thought in relation to their lives.

However, one area of mise en scene which our audience still didn't feel we had perfected was the use of low-key lighting, with some feedback saying that one or two shots were too dark. Truthfully, we were going to re-film some of the darker shots so that our film came out as clear and visible as possible, although it did result in using the shots we already had as we simply ran out of time to film. If we had run over our filming time this would have effected the time we had to edit and we found the editing vitally important for the end result. Conversely, some other people of our target audience did believe that our lighting worked really well, and we had used this lighting to create an enigma, so I think that method was portrayed.











Mainly it is apparent that we attracted our audience by using relations to their lives, so they could imagine what it would be like to go through that experience. The use of characters as previously stated, is intended to create a relation between the characters and modern stereotypes. In this feedback I got about our thriller opening after posting our film to Facebook, it is apparent that this technique came across successfully.

By referring to certain themes and issues such as the theme of an investigation, this creates a sense of realism and context for the audience, this was also shown in some feedback I received. The theme also has a semantic field of torture and not being able to escape, which is a common fear for everyone. Therefore, this technique helps to attract our audience through fear but interest.

The use of sound was one aspect we found difficult to attract or audience with, as it is difficult to bring in a contemporary effect or a sound that appeals to our audience without distracting from the other sound used and the plot. I received lots of feedback on my social media site about our sound and, if we were to redo the sound editing I imagine we would have got some ideas and carried out research for feedback before beginning, to ensure we appealed as much as possible to our target audience. Here, it is evident that the sound effect of the pencil did not sound correct with the other sound, suggested that it is to loud. Although, many people did think that the sound we used, especially the soundtrack (music) fit well with the plot. 

I think our characters help to target the audience mostly because we used representations that fit in with standard stereotypes. But, we represented the characters in an adult manner, so that they could be someone the audience aspire to be like/aspire to not be like. This is because of the costume, hair and make-up used, along with the dialogue, which are all similar to that of our target audience. We did this because we wanted to have a relation between the characters and the spectators to ensure they felt as involved as possible and make common relations between themselves and the characters. We also used actors/actresses of a similar age to the target audience, again, to create similarities.

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

Me editing with Final Cut Pro

Editing with Final Cut Pro

Editing with Garageband

Me editing sound using Garageband

Voiceover Script

Through constructing this product I have learnt about lots of new technologies. Beginning with post production camera work I have learnt lots of new techniques such as setting the white balance correctly to ensure our film came out the right colour and as clear as possible when we use low key lighting. We learnt that we need to do this from our preliminary task, where the low-key lighting came out grainy and too dark. I’ve also learnt to use methods such as ‘making a sandwich’ which essentially resulted in saying “Rolling, Speed, Action” before beginning to film and “Cut” after filming the shot. Another thing I have learnt to do is to set the focus correctly so that, along with the white balance, the shot is as crisp as possible. In our preliminary video, we only took one version of the shots, so we were limited if our shots didn’t turn out the way we had hoped. However, in our final product we repeated filming the shots so that we got the best outcome possible. One difficulty we did have in relation to this is the shots filmed outside; this was a difficulty because, although we took many shots, they did all turn out to be a bit too dark. Though, this effect does create an enigma as to where she is and in the end has added to the construction of the story in our final film. We’ve also learnt to carry a spare battery whilst using the camera, as the battery almost ran out during filming of our preliminary risk assessment. Another procedure which we have learnt about the camera, is that we have to clear the area we are using to ensure that the area in which we are filming only has everything we want to be in the shot.

We also used the voice recorder multiple times in our final film; this meant that we learnt lots of new things about this technology. One thing I have learnt is that the microphone should be set to the accurate audio pick up, in our case that was 7, meaning that no background noise was picked up, but you could still hear the dialogue clearly. With the microphone it was also essential that our actress didn’t hold it too close to her face or else the recorder would pick up the sound of her breathing, which sounded really heavy over the dialogue, this was one difficulty that we had, and we overcame this by moving the microphone further from her nose and face (a bit below her mouth and chin). Again, with the voice recorder we used the making a sandwich technique, this ensured that we didn’t miss out any dialogue or foleys and that the sound wasn’t clipped.

The editing software we used was Garageband and Final Cut Pro. In the beginning, I did really struggle with this software because I’d never used them before, but, over time, I began to get to grips with the method used and techniques taken place to edit the film and sound successfully. Below are pictures of me editing with Garageband and Final Cut Pro, as you can see we were towards the end of our product and so for that reason I had really developed an understanding of how to use the programmes. With techniques such as rendering and how to export the final movies being a few of the things I have learnt.

We used Final Cut Pro for the visual editing and titling of our final film and as an evaluation of my understanding of this software, I would say I have improved majorly since the preliminary. However, if I were to edit the film again using this software I would have ensured to try out as many different ideas as possible so that our final product could be finished to a great standard with in depth understanding of the techniques used.

Looking at titling, I learnt that less is more and keeping the titling minimalistic meant that it did not distract from the main film. To do this we used dead space within shots to fill with the titling and credits, this is done in films such as “The Silence”. By super-imposing the titling and credits this also meant that the spectator was not distracted from the plot.

In Garageband, we edited the sound and it was really enjoyable searching for different sound effect to use for the non-diegetic off-screen sound. One thing I learnt about this technology whilst constructing the product is to ensure the sound fit as precisely to the shots as possible. Another thing I learnt is to ensure that the sound effects and music used is the correct volume, so as to not drown out the dialogue or the diegetic sound. I also learnt to overlay diegetic sound with non-diegetic so this came in really helpful for that. If I were to edit the sound on our piece again, I would perhaps use less sound effects and music, so that our piece sounds as eerie as possible, sometimes silence is helpful to get the spectator thinking. 

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

Looking back, I believe I have progressed massively. Not only has the filming with our full product been completed for the deadline, but it has also had multiple shots of the same setting, but shot from different angles, etc. to create a variation and ensure we got the best quality full product as possible. Furthermore, in relation to camerawork, we have also used a range of more technical shots and angles, this has improved our final product massively and makes it look as professional as possible. An example of a technical camera shot we have used is the one below  which is a slit shot, in relation to composition and space, a similar shot to this shot is used in 'Shutter Island'.

Shutter Island                                                                                           Full Product

The most technical shot we used in our preliminary video is a canted high angle extreme long shot, so in comparison to the shots in our full product it shows that we have progressed in terms of camerawork, demonstrated in the screen grabs below.

Preliminary Task                                                                                      Full Product

Another way in which I feel I have progressed from the preliminary to the final video, referring to the use of camera is through use of focus pulls, which in our piece are used to create an impression of the female protagonists unconsciousness. This is another technical skill we used in the final product that we did not in the preliminary task.
                                                                                                                 Full Product









Finally, we have also used a crab shot in both the preliminary video and the final product. In comparing these we can see how much our camera skills have developed. With the preliminary crab being quite shaky and the final product crab turning out well manoeuvred. the screen grabs from each task below demonstrate this.

Preliminary Task



                                                           Full Product













Looking back at our storyboard post for our preliminary video, it is also evident that our planning and research has improved. Whereas before the storyboard consisted of still images of the storyboard drawings, in our full product storyboard we use a voiceover to describe the plan as in depth as possible. We believed that in depth planning made for the full product to be finished to as high a standard as possible.

Preliminary Task

                                              Full Product
















Alongside this, the editing of our final product has been finished to a higher standard than our preliminary, with sound being one of the main factors that has improved, with more, both non-diegetic and diegetic sound being used, and more precisely and parallel to the film. Within our preliminary task the sound we used was minimalistic, I believe this was because we weren't 100% confident on what sort of sounds to use or how to use them as much to our advantage as possible. This is evident where foleys are used, in our preliminary we used a small amount of foleys, because the sounds we needed we could find on Garageband. However, as our final piece was much more aspirational and we had ambition to go further, some sounds we couldn't find, so use of foleys were very effective and were enjoyable to record.

Within these screenshots it is clear of the progression we have made in terms of lighting. In our preliminary task we struggled to get the low key lighting set so as to create an eerie impression, as the final preliminary turned out to be too dark. This is one way in which we have improved in relation to mise en scene.

Preliminary Task                                                                                      Full Product

Another thing we have learnt about the composition of our shots is to ensure we fill the dead space, as in our preliminary task we had a lot of space which was completely empty and had no relevance to the plot. It is evident from the screen grabs below that our composition and positioning and placement of the camera has improved massively and the shots are used as much to our advantage as possible. We have also used super-imposed credits to fill up the remainder of dead space.

Preliminary Task                                                                                       Full Product

Dead Space shown above on right ^

I have learnt lots of new vision editing skills in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product. One main thing is just the quality of vision editing. The quality has improved because I have learnt to use techniques iconographic of the thriller genre, meaning that our final product relates more thoroughly to actual thriller openings than our preliminary task. Our final product makes use of dissolve transitions as well as cuts, seeing as these were the most prominent transitions to be used in real film openings it seemed sensible to use these too.

Comparing continuity editing of the preliminary task and the full product I have found that we have learned to be more precise with our match on actions and eyeline matches, etc. Though, I don't believe that we have improved greatly, because, in my opinion the match on actions in our preliminary film were really strong continuity editing techniques.

Preliminary Task first MOA                                                                                 Full Product first MOA

Preliminary Task second MOA                                                                Full Product second MOA




     




















The construction of character and story in our final product is one aspect which we our really proud of. We took a lot of time over the construction of the characters, looking at costume, hair, make-up and suitability for the requirements we needed, as shown in previous blog posts. In comparison to our preliminary task, this planning was very helpful, seeing as there was a limited amount of planning on characters and construction of the story in our preliminary, meaning that we may not have been able to achieve the best constructions possible.

Preliminary Task Planning                                                                       Full Product Planning



















Furthermore, where are preliminary began immediately with the action of the film, our full product began with dialogue and an introduction of the plot. This is shot of the female protagonist in a range of shots, from mid shot to ECU and introduces her allowing the spectator to 'get to know her'.

Preliminary Task                                                                                      Full Product