Evaluation question seven

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

Our preliminary task; director's commentary overview

Main task: From creating our preliminary task film, to creating our final product, I feel that my skills have truly progressed and I have quickly learnt various different skills and techniques throughout the process.

The location in our first film was extremely bland and uninteresting; we didn't take enough consideration into our location and didn't realise how much the location could contribute to the effect and atmosphere of a film. Through our research of the thriller genre and the development of our skills throughout our main task, we were aware of the importance of the location by the time it came to creating our final product, helping to improve our product's quality and appeal. We were also aware of how important characters are to a film when it came to creating our final product, we knew that we needed to make our protagonist appear innocent and vulnerable in order to build deep emotion and tension and cause our audience to feel empathy towards the character; this method had been found throughout our research in various thriller films such as flightplan, the fugitive and mission impossible.

Our script for our final product was planned in order to help construct a devised film that linked and flowed correctly. The planned script helped our film to flow better and meant that our group didn't struggle trying to think of dialogue from scratch without enough consideration. This level of planning made a significant difference to the creation of our product and the final result that we managed to achieve; in contrast to our preliminary task, which was poorly organised in regards to any kind of script.

We also decided to use a soundtrack throughout our entire final product; including an ambient soundtrack throughout our first location (a kitchen scene) in order to reflect a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. In contrast to this, we used a fast-paced, dramatic soundtrack throughout the forest scenes in order to create a tense, uneasy atmosphere. The technique of using soundtracks throughout media products in order to create a certain mood significantly added to the quality and the standard of our final product. We learnt that soundtracks could easily be imported onto our editing programme "final cut pro" and then embedded into our product. We sourced both of our soundtracks by finding royalty free music on YouTube and selecting which ones were most appropriate for the scenes throughout our film.

Throughout the process of creating our final product, we also learnt how to use certain light effects/adjustments by exploring the features on our chosen editing programme; final cut pro. We took advantage of the many adjustments that could be made; using effects such as "vignette" and "bokeh" flashing lights. Our skills soon developed in the area of editing and soon we were easily making adjustments that would contribute to the quality and appearance of our film.

Finally, we were able to create professional looking idents through our new grasp of editing software by the time it came to editing our final product. I feel that these idents really added to the professionalism of our final product and allowed our film to reflect many of the thriller films that we had previously looked at by conforming to the method of using atmospheric idents in order to introduce both our film and the content within our film.

All of these methods stated above contributed to the mood, atmosphere, quality, content and appeal of our final product, I feel that my skills have significantly developed through research, experience and technology from the point of my preliminary task and the skills that I have learnt have led to the creation of a final product that I am utterly pleased with.  

Evaluation question seven: plan

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

In order to answer this question, I am going record a director's commentary discussing our preliminary task and then comparing it to our final product and discussing the differences between the two and what I have learnt. I have never used this method before but feel that it will provide an effective and creative response to the question and describe in detail the many techniques that I have learnt since creating my preliminary task.

Evaluation question six

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contructing this product?

1. Apple iMac

A crucial step in completing our media product was the use of an Apple iMac. The iMac included a range of software that I was not at first accustomed to, including the programme which we used in order to edit our product: final cut pro. I had never before used an iMac, previously I had grown accustomed to using operating systems such as windows. However, after just one or two sessions, I quickly found the iMac to be just as straightforward, I could quickly and happily navigate my way around this brand new technology.

Our school had selected the iMac's for our use due to the range of software that was available which would contribute to the creation of our media product. The quality of the iMac's is evident as professional media institutions also use a similar setup throughout professional film making.

2. iPhone six

To film our product, we decided to use an iPhone six instead of a regular camera. We ensured to consult our teacher before going ahead with this method, as we were concerned about the quality being inferior due to it being recorded on a phone camera. However, we soon learnt that the camera quality on advanced iPhones such as the iPhone six is extremely good and would be effective to use throughout the production of our film. The "camera" app on this phone also comes with a "flash" feature, which enabled us to still obtain clear shots whilst filming in the dark; this was extremely helpful whilst filming our product as our main location was a dark forest.

I myself own an iPhone but had never before used it for filming purposes, I was extremely impressed and surprised with the quality of the camera and would definitely consider using an advanced iPhone in the future for filming purposes. Having used an iPhone before too, I was comfortable with the technology and therefore this made the process of using one extremely simple and straightforward.

Evaluation question six: plan

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contructing this product?

In order to respond to this question, I am going to include an image of each technological product that I have used throughout the process of creating my product. I will also add an explanation of what I have learnt whilst using these items. I feel that this will be an effective and apropriate response as it will provide plenty of detail regarding what I have learnt about technologies.

Evaluation question five

How did you attract/address your audience?


1 & 4. Location

Our first location (shot 1) attracts our age group as it is filmed in a mundane, ordinary atmosphere before quickly switching to a chaotic and frightening situation. This will appeal to teenagers as it reflects their mercurial way of living; suddenly going from a regular, customary situation to a questionable, unexpected circumstance (shot 4). This technique of quickly switching from a specific location to one that is completely unexpected will also create significant levels of suspense for the audience; ensuring that their viewing experience is gripping and exciting.

2. Character

Our main character throughout our product is a teenager, this will attract our target audience of teenagers as they will feel that they can relate to the protagonist and the situations in which she is in, they may be able to empathise more with the character due to them sharing the same age group. This will hopefully lead to a new level of enjoyment for our audience.

3. Suspense and mystery

Included in our product was a threatening, eerey text message that our protagonist received. This message read "I haven't forgotten what you did" against a cracked phone screen, and was received via an unknown number. This unknown text message creates a huge sense of suspense and mystery, and is the first point within our product that an element of terror is introduced. The suspense included here will attract our target audience who will be expecting many elements of suspense and mystery whilst viewing our product; due to these two elements being two of the key conventions of the thriller genre. We became aware that these two elements were crucial whilst carrying out an audience survey a few months ago; we included a question that asked "what do you enjoy most while watching thriller films?"... in response to this question, 60% of participants answered mystery and the other 40% answered suspense, therefore we became quickly aware what our audience really wanted to see.

5. Shot type

This close up shot provides suspense and tension. This shot type is popularly used throughout the thriller genre in order to focus on a particular person or object, and therefore build suspense through detail. Suspenseful music often accompanies a close up shot to build the tension even further. We conformed to this convention and added dramatic music in order to build the atmosphere. We have built further tension and suspense through this shot type and this therefore attracts our target audience.

6. Colour correction/lighting

In shot six, we have used editing tools made available to us on final cut pro in order to enhance the effectiveness of this shot. The colour scheme that runs throughout our product attracts a very niche audience. Our product is based around a dark and bleak colour scheme to create an atmosphere of suspense and terror, the colours that we have used effectively relate to the thriller genre. However, whilst editing one of our final shots, we used a different approach. We decided to increase the saturation of this shot in order to make the eyes appear more blue and the cloth appear more yellow, this was in order for these features to truly stand out - enhancing the shot and it's appearance. We decided to make this alteration to one of the last shots in order to make a lasting impression on the audience. This attracts our audience by building an effective atmosphere that appeals to potential viewers.

Evaluation question five: plan

How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to respond to this question, I will create a collage of 6 screen shots from our film, and add descriptions underneath explaining how each technique effecticvely attracts/appeals to our audience. I feel that this method will allow me to respond to the question effectively as it will demonstrate how the techniques used within our film have been taylored to attract our audience.

Evaluation question four

Who would be the audience for  your media product?

Initially, I planed to respond to this question in the form of a slideshow. However, I came across multiple technical difficulties whilst trying to create one on the site "slide-share", therefore I decided to revert to another method and created a prezi instead.