Evaluation.

By Emerald McNamara.

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

• Genre: The still shot shown above where the girl is looking directly into the camera represents our genre. It does this through the lighting and cameras positioning. It manages to focus on the main features of the girls face, yet they are not complimentary towards the character at first leaving a mysterious emotion lingering. Everything within our film we have tried to keep to a stereotypical genre, such as the location, costume, actors and so on.

• Costume: The still shot shown above when the girl is shot a long distance from the camera represents costume choice with in our film. Our actor is clothed in a white lace gown wrapped around her body with a vale to add extra effect as it covers her facial features, this alone intensifies the shot. The main choice for this costume was inspiration from the film ‘The Ring’. I found her costume to be effective and it manages to stand out in the setting as its white on a black background.

• Setting: The setting for our movie is shown with in the first few seconds. It is shot at long shot allowing the location to be revealed. This shot I found to be effective as it sets the viewer in the loop. The fact that our setting is a woodland area at the dusk of the evening also relates to the stereotypical genre we have been aiming for.

• Font: One of the still shots above shows font we have chosen. We tried to keep it simple and easy to read as if we had tried to make it look scary in the style of blood dripping as such I personally don’t think it would have been as effect. Simple texts seem to be the most effective as they leave little trail as to where the storyline will lead.

• Camera Work and Editing: The screen shot representing our camera work/editing is the shot of the girls face as she is running towards the camera. This is shot using a hand held technique. We chose to use this technique as it proved to be more effective as the camera wasn’t still as she was running towards it which is effective as it shows the camera following her running apposed to a still shot which would have looked more staged.

• Special FX: The screen shot showing our use of special FX is the shot of the girl walking with the shadow of her following. This shot has been created by an editing technique where we layered the film to create a double image of the girl. We chose to use this effect as we felt it suited our genre well and represented the creepy atmosphere/setting we had hoped for.

• Character: The screen shot of the girl shot at mid shot represents our costume choice. We chose this style of costume as through research of other movies with our genre in mind we found it to be the most effective and most complimentary to what we had aimed for.

• The Title: Our title is shown above. This selected title is the in fact the name of our film, We have used a white noise to play over the top of this to add effect. We really liked this effect and chose to use it repeatedly throughout. This idea came from research and personal preference as it does add an extremely daunting touch to the film itself. 

• Story/Narrative: The screen shot representing our story/narrative is the final shot of the young girl in her room. We wanted to add a twist the begging of our film to carry the story on.  In doing so we first started with the creepy woodland scene and then after the main title cut to a very natural scene to confuse the viewer. Our main storyline is all very twisted and unknown. However the second part of our 2 minutes of film may seem a little off course in comparison to the first part but the storyline and its twist would have become apparent later on. The key features of this shot are interesting as the star the main character and also the main prop, but both are in a very different setting in comparison to the first part of the film.

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

The main character in our film Margarita Yafarkina represents that of the main character in 'The Ring', the little girl played by Rachel Bella. Both of these characters are similar as they both play the female protagonist in the films.
Personally i find they compliment one another due to their similar stereotypical features such as the comparison in mise-en-scene.
For example the costumes used in both our film and 'The Ring' are old fashioned white gowns/sleepwear. This is effective towards the viewer as it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere which is difficult to relate to.
The settings used for our film is again similar to that of 'The Ring' as parts are set in a woodland area. We chose to use a woodland are as one of our locations as it would compliment our genre and portray the correct characteristics of our film.
Some of the cinematography used is also relative to some of the famous shots used in 'The Ring' such as the close up on the girls face whilst her features are being hidden by her eerie dark long hair.
We tryed to use certain stereotypical features when it came to the mise-en-scene of our film such as the costumes, lighting, settings and cinematography. Personally i feel we portayed the image of the little girl the way in which we had intended. In some respects I think the age of our main character was a little too old for the role, however when the storyline is made apparent it actually endures a more promising twist on the story.

Margarita Yafarkina











Rachel Bella

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

I explored the website, www.findyourtribe.co.uk at which I took the quiz to find out which tribe I was from with my ideal audience in mind.

The result was an 'Emo', which seems to me like the ideal audience. According to the website, our ideal audience are an emotional crowd, dressed in skinny clothes and black, but with electrifying streaks of colour and bright logos. Their hair would be dyed black and a fringe covering their face to protect them from the cruel outside world. The girls would shop at Claire’s Accessories and the boys wouldn’t be seen without a pair of Vans trainers. They have sensitive souls and seek solace through poetry and music.

To attract our perfect audience member, we specifically referred to the research we had collected before we started our filming. The audience we would refer to was categorised as a stereotypical Emo, known for their dark and mysterious auras.Keeping this mind we tried to create a theme and setting which would suit our audiences expectations. Our setting was a darkened path surrounded by sinister looking trees intensifying the adrenaline burst of fear.We tried to keep to very stereotypical features when filming as from past research we discovered that the most fearful parts of movies are the stereotypical occurrences.

5.   How did you attract/address your audience?

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

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

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

A vlog featuring Maud Start discussing how we have developed our skills.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

EVALUATION

By Maud Start. 1150

1. 9 Shot Grid

By Maud Start

This 9 shot grid consists still shots of the key elements of our film

from top to bottom, left to right:

Genre (and suggestions of it), Costume, Setting..........

Font and Style, Camera work and editing, Special FX

Character, Title of the Film, Story/Narrative...............

I tried to choose shots that would really capture the ambiance of the film,

For genre I took a still shot of one of the most sinister moments of the beginning, where our main character is shown looking straight into the lens of the camera, it is a dark shot, with her as the main focus of the screen. She is in full costume, which is very stereotypical of the genre of the film, with an expressionless face, with a lack of emotion. Hopefully this is a good example of the thriller genre, considering it is obvious that the girl is young, and creepy looking.

Costume: This is a still shot taken from the movie of a long shot of the main girl. She is fully dressed in a white floor length lace dress, and matching veil which covers her face, obscuring her features. I chose to use a long shot so that the entire costume would be visible, and also it would be in context to the setting, as it is not the expected outfit to be worn in the woody setting.

Setting: I chose a simple still that is the first shot of the movie, it is simply a long shot of a tree, with a thick woodland behind. The lighting is poor, making the atmosphere seem cold, and scary.
Font: A still of one of the producers names, just to show our font choice, and where it is situated on the screen.
Camera Work and Editing: A still of a handheld close up shot of the girl running, it is clear it is handheld, as she, and the woodland behind her is blurred on the screen.
Special FX: This shot portrays an editing technique where we layered the film to create a double image of the girl on the screen, the effect it creates is very supernatural and reminiscent of the genre of the movie.
Character: A still mid shot of our main character, who is present throughout the film, in full costume.

The Title: This is literally the title of our film as it first fades into a screen of 'TV Noise', this then fades into black.

Story/Narrative: For this I included a different aspect of the film, the contrasting part that appears after the title. This is less reminiscent of our genre, yet it is very important to the development of our narrative. The still shot contains both the main character and her main prop, the barbie doll, both are key parts of the narrative, that are relevant throughout the film.

2. How does our media product represent particular social groups?
By Maud Start

Our main and only character that appears in the first two minutes of our clip is our actress Margarita Yafarkina. In our film she is reminiscent of the creepy girl, Rachael Bella, in 'The Ring'. The tone we tried to convey in 'Grit' with her dark, gothic image does not represent a particular social group, as her image is more supernatural than human, this is the same as the girl in 'The Ring'. However if our character was to represent a social group it would most likely fall into the goth/emo image.

We represented her as a scary character by utilising her long hair, much the same as 'The Ring' to hide her face, we also dressed her in white lace, which is a typically spooky attribute because of its links to innocence and weddings, which is very contradictive of our character, making a contrast. We also have added a grey wash over her, to add an eery ambience typical of thriller movies. The settings we used were also similar to in 'The Ring', as very dark, deserted areas were use, such as the woods. Same as in 'The Ring' the actress we chose for 'Grit' was much older than the character they were chosen to play, however once acting they both look the part, and the wisdom in their eyes adds a creepy effect, as it should not be present on such a young girls face.

Rachael Bella from 'The Ring'

Margarita Yafarkina from our movie 'Grit'

This version of our film includes tags that explain how we used media to attract our audience.

3. What kind of media institutions might distribute our media product, and why?
By Maud Start.

This is a director's commentary on our choice of logo and production company name, why production companies are important, how distribution works and how our film attracts certain production companies.

4. Who would be the Perfect Audience for our media product?

By Maud Start

Using www.findyourtribe.co.uk I did the quiz with my ideal audience in mind. The result was a 'Goth', which I think is actually pretty accurate, and it was certainly what I expected. According to the website, our ideal audience are a very dark bunch of people, addicted to coffins, and black.
I think that our main audience will be female, as we have a female protagonist, and our genre is specifically aimed at girls.
 In my mind I have a very clear, stereotypical picture of who our main audience will include

• They will have very styled hair, most likely black, if not it will be died in some kooky way.
• Converse and Doc Martens will be massively popular with our audience
• Along with 'Emily Strange' accessories
• Makeup will resemble the 'Corpse Bride', on both the boys and the girls
• I can imagine that our ideal audience will be avid gig goers, and will always have tickets to the next 'Guns n Roses' gig
• Excessive piercings will be worshipped, especially the snake-bites and eyebrows
• Our audience will be attracted to our movie by the 'R' rating and the dark ghoulish storyline, at the same time I can see them picking up 'The Hitcher' and 'Quarantine' for the same reason, whilst they are at the video store.
• Ouija boards and books will be a hit with our audience, books such as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, due to its mysterious, quirky storyline, and Rupture, by Simon Lelic.
• Our ideal audience will avoid other tribes like the plague, yet once a good book or movie is brought up will be drawn into a deep and interesting discussion/ debate, no matter who they are talking to.
• As they are watching our movie, a greasy domino's pizza will be ordered in, with every topping and extra cheese, and a side order of garlic bread. Cans of Snakebite will be cracked open, straight from the fridge, and enjoyed from the can. Yet the preferred dish would have to be a juicy steak and chips, medium rare, or even an appetising bowl of mum's lasagne.
• Hobbies would include indulging in a mosh pit on a friday night, and weekdays will be spent talking at length about classic literature, visiting the local grave yard and booking their next gig.

We tried to attract our perfect audience member by creating our film with our audience solely in mind. We tried to create a character that would be familiar to the audience, in the way they look, or just that they can relate to her through other films/ books they have read.
We filmed our movie when it was dusk, so the part before the title comes up is quite dark. This is the same in lot's of thriller movies, which mainly attract the audiene we hope for. Our protagonist is female, which means the majority of our audience is likely to be female, which is good, because from the beginning our genre was 'Thriller aimed at a female audience'. To accentuate this we have used a barbie doll throughout the first two minutes, which exxagerated the feminity of the character. The second part of the extract, after the title comes up is a much brighter setting, with girly, childish props, such as toys, teddies and colouring. We hope that this will make our movie appealing to women, but they have also had a taste of the thriller aspect of our film.
We hope that the title of our film 'GRIT' is sharp and snappy enough to entice our perfect audience members. The one syllable leaves much to the imagination, and we hope it will be found intriguing, on a plus side, we hope that the single syllable sounds sinister.
The special effects we used, such as layering to create a ghostly image will attract our audience, as it gives a supernatural feel, which is helped by the music, which adds tension with the slow rhythm, injected by piercing notes. This music was used as we felt that it is this eery music that will appeal to the darker side of our audience. However it is neutralised after the title comes up, by a light acoustic guitar riff, the contrast of these two tracks creates a confusion within the first two minutes, urging the audience to think about what it is they are watching.

5. How we attracted/ address our audience?
By Maud Start

6. How I have gained knowledge of media technology throughout the coursework process

By Maud Start.

This Prezi shows my development of knowledge throughout the last two terms, where I have been working on my AS media studies coursework.

How my media skills have progressed through the film making process on Prezi

7. Looking back at the prelimary task, what I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.
By Maud Start

A vlog featuring Emerald McNamara discussing how we have developed our skills.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

According to our audience feedback we need to change a few aspects of our movie. This is mainly the transition between the before and after titles, as many people found that this was confusing, we need to create a transition that applies a contrast, but will also be relevant and convenient to our storyline.

Animated Logos

By Maud Start & Emerald McNamara

We did not think that our original logo was appropriate for a production company at the start of our film, as it was very simple looking. Emerald has created a new more sophisticated logo, as seen above. We will now animate this so that the birds fly in to meet the writing, and place it at the start of our movie.

Shooting Begins!

By Maud Start

Emerald and I began shooting our film on Monday, at 4.00. The light was perfect as it was dusk, and our actress, Margarita, looked amazing in her white dress and veil. We only managed to get a few shots, but we edited it all together and realised we had got 36 seconds of useful footage. We will go out filming again on saturday, hopefully at around the same time to get the same lighting as last time.

Shooting Schedule

MBy Emerald McNamara & Maud Start

Emerald, Maud, Magdalena and Margarita
Saturday 15th of January
2.00
Hopeman woods, first 4 clips set in the woods

Emerald, Maud, Magdalena and Margarita
Monday 17th of January
3.00
Hopeman woods, next 4 clips set in the woods

Emerald, Maud, Magdalena and Margarita
Friday 22nd of January
3.00
Hopeman mixed com, girl playing with toys clip



The weather that has been predicted for the days we have chosen are perfect for the atmosphere of our movie, bright sunlight would not be appropriate.

Animatic

By Maud Start & Emerald McNamara

We animated our storyboard and added the sound we wanted to include. Each shot we want to use is included in the animatic, and also the titles and the production company. We found that it works out to two minutes which is perfect as this is the preferred length of our beginning sequence.We had to record the diegetic singing to place it in the animatic, however in our actual film the sound will be included within the scene.

Props and Costumes.

By Maud Start & Emerald McNamara.

We have collected all of our props and costumes that we need for our movie. Our costumes consist of an elderly ladies outfit for the Grandma in the rocking chair, a young girls jeans and t-shirt for the flash back of the home video, and a white lacy dress for the girl as she walks through the woods.
The girl will wear the white lacy dress, with a pair of white plimsolls.
We have also got a chair for the Grandmother, and a barbie doll for the young girl to hold.