Final finished film

Evaluation task 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Since we made our preliminary task our skills and knowledge of editing and camerawork has vastly improved, to start with we used different editing software, therefore we gained knowledge in different software and editing techniques.

In our premilary task we were taught about the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and about match on action.  we used both shot reverse shot and match on action,  Nearly the whole of the title sequence was made up of shot reverse shot, as the camera cut form the driver to the teenagers walking along.

When we produced our premilary task we used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit it however in this task we were lucky enough to be able to use Final Cut Pro on a Mac computer, this software is a professional editing software used by top editors.  This held and hindered us, it helped as it gave us more effects to use and more choice as to the editing techniques, but it hindered us as we had to work out how to use it properly as i had had a small experience of this software but not good enough to be about to edit the film, so we had to teach ourselves as to how to use the software this took up some of our editing time.

The camera work was what we used to create most of the horror genre techniques like not showing the drivers face throughout the title sequence.  The location that we choose gave us a lot of freedom to get plenty of different shots and angles.

This is an example of how our group did match on action in our preliminary task and then in our horror film, you can clearly see the difference in the video quality as we used a standard definition camcorder for our premilary task but a HD one for our horror film.

Evaluation task 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For our filming we used a SPEED HD-120Z High Definition Camcorder to record our footage on set. We use a tripod where possible to make sure it was a smooth and stable shot.











We used a Apple Mac to edit our software.  We used the software was Final Cut Pro X. This is because it was top of the range editing software and it gave us a broad range of editing techniques.

We used YouTube to publish our video as this was a good place to upload it and the quality of the uploaded footage was the best we could find.

Evaluation task 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

This is not the marked version as the marked version was deleted off of youtube by youtube as can be see the comment that my teacher left was of the 17th of February the video Ive just posted I posted on the 7th of March. (The annotations are as best as I could remember)

Evaluation task 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

We conducted a survey to find out the target audience for our film, from the answers we found out that:

We know our age range would be 16-24 so we gave our questionnaire's to a group of year 12's and 13's aged 16/17/18/19 so they fitted into our age range and from the results we concluded that our film would be aimed more at males.   we also asked if they enjoyed the 2 minuet extract, if they would watch the rest of the film, if the characters are represented well and what changes they would make to it.

Our answers told us that all of the people we asked enjoyed the extract and would watch the rest of the film if it was made,  they agreed that the only changes needed to be made were the title and a small wind interference problem that was sorted easily, they also all agreed that all the characters were represented well.


Demographics
Our films demographic is male young adults,  but our film is aimed at a broad audience so if women want to go to see it then they may well be able to relate to it as there would be some teenage boys and girls later on in the film, but our main aim is at middle and working class males as they are the most likely to be able to relate to the film. We also have not directed our film to any race or geological areas this allows us to keep our film open to all geographical areas.


Pyschographics
We chose the age range of 16-24 as this is stereotypically the most likely age group to go and see a horror film, also this age group is usually a very social age group so when they do go to the cinema they usually go in groups so therefore producing more revenue for the film they go to see as people might go that might not normally go as they are socialising with there friends.  This target audience might also be gripped by the music and editing as we used dramatic music and sounds to make the audience feel as if they are actually there in the action.  we said our film was based on rue events to make it easier for the audience to relate to what goes on in the film.

Evaluation task 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

This is our commentary of our film.

Evaluation task 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The character we chose to compare Jon to is Billy from Jeepers Creepers 2. 

 we chose to compare Jon to this character as they both find themselves in grave danger early on in there respective films, and both die early on. 

We also chose to compare them due to the fact that they are both of similar age and height, they are both also wearing a white shirt, this represents there innocents.

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

This picture board is showing the 9 most important frames of our title and opening sequence

The first is showing the title we chose this font as we like the way that it had splatter marks o the letters we would have liked to changes the colour of the splatters to red to make it look like blood on the letters like the blood on the bonnet of the car

The second shot is showing the location that we used. We choose this location as it was in the middle of the countryside where it is almost deserted so we had almost. I trouble with traffic.

Shot number three is of costume and props, the teenagers were aloud to wear what they wanted to but we made the teen that got run over wear a white t-shirt so that when we put the blood onto him it stood out,  we made the man driving the car wear a suit so that he looked like a teacher which is important to the rest of the story.  the teen had some headphone in so that he could not hear the car approaching him and the teacher picks up his phone just before he hits the teen so that he was distracted.

Shot 4 is of camerawork and editing show one of the pans that we did and at the end of the pan we did a fade into the next shot as you can see with the way that the two images are both partially transparent.

font and style is shot number 5: The font of our titles in the title sequence is a very plain font. It is 'Times New Roman' in white because it stands out and contrasts with the dark dull scenes of the title sequence.

shot 6 is showing how the story is being set up, it is showing the teen that gets run over splitting up from the rest of the teens this is the most crucial part of the opening to the film he is alone and therefore makes the event more horrifying. As the audience is now thinking that an innocent teen has be run over. The overall storyline is that the mans driving the car is a teacher at a school and the teenager that he had run over is in his class this drives him mental and be then goes on to murder the other children in his class people start to get suspicious and the film ends in a hostage situation where the teacher gets killed and then the camera will pan round to see all of the ghosts of the teens that he killed with the teacher stood in front of them.

The seventh shot is of the genre and how this is shown in the opening. We used this shot as it shows the dark deserted surroundings, this suggests the horror genre as it is very mysterious. It also shows the blood on the bonnet of the car this shows that the film will include all the stereotypical parts of a horror film, blood, gore and a killer.

Shot 8 the main characters are introduced in the title sequence the teenagers are introduced in a very casual way they are first seen walking along the side of a field chatting away as if nothing is wrong, on the other hand you are introduced to the man driving the car bit by bit as you see his the side of his head and back but not his face until the opening sequence this builds suspense in the audience as they want to know who this man is.

The last shot is showing how special effects are used we used fades a few times during the title sequence but the only real special effect that we used was the last shot where we faded out the teenager bit left the background the same.

horror film first draft.

This the first draft of our horror film.

Filming pictures

shot list

This is our shot list these are the same as seen on our storyboards.




Title Sequence

1. DiGiTal Media Logo
2. Car approaches at speed.
3. Group of teenagers walk towards screen.
4. Group of teenagers walk past camera.
5. Car drives past panning camera.
6. Teenagers walk past stationary camera.
7. Inside car with shadow of driver.
8. Close up of puddle.
9. Alternative view of puddle as car drives through.
10. Jon walks off from the group of teenagers in different direction.
11. Jon walks past camera into the distance.
12. Car drives around corner past camera.
13. Car increases speed and goes past camera.
14. Jon walks towards and past camera while starting to cross road.
15. Car approaches Jon at full speed.
16. Driver picks up phone while driving.
17. Car breaks heavily.
18. Title of film appears.

Opening Scene

1. Driver looks shocked and starts to open door.
2. Driver starts to get out the car.
3. Driver rushes around the side of the car to looks at blood.
4. POV of driver has he looks at the blood.
5. Driver panics and rushes back into car.
6. Driver gets into car and closes door. Reflection of Jon appears on car.
7. Close up of car wheel spinning.
8. Car drives off quickly.
9. Inside of car with Jon in the rear view mirror.
10. Close up of the rear view mirror with Jon in it.
11. Jon standing in the middle of the road covered in blood.
12. Jon disappears and screen fades to black.

Storyboards

These are the storyboards for the title sequence and opening scene.  The first 4 pages are of the title sequence this is showing how the camera follows a group of teenagers as the walk home and split up, all of these shots are split up by shots of a car travelling at high speeds along narrow country lanes.

All of the rest of the shots are now of the opening scene, this consists of the driver of the car finding that he has hit something but cannot find a body or corpse, he then gets back in the car and drives off into the night.

Props

We discussed what props wouild need to be used these are:

• Tomato ketchup (used for blood)
• A Car
• An Ipod with Headphones

Thes were the only props used during the footage we used.

Music

We looked at choosing our music to use with the footage today we came across a few tracks and sites but settled on two these were:

'The Hyperborean Menace' Was the first rtrack we looked at using, we found it on 'machinimasound.com'. This site is used to provide copyright free tracks for producers to use. This had a lot of what we were looking for as it had a mesterious feel at the start and then a climax at the end this worked well with the idea of the car hitting the child.

'Aftermath' was the second track we found to use, this was from 'incompetech.com'. This track had a mesterious feel but with a quiet beat with it.

We decided to use both of the tracks the first for the title sequence and the second for during the opening sequence.

filming schedule

 

This was our filming schedule.

We managed to keep to this schedule until we ran out of light in the evenings so the days ran over onto the next but it was all filmed withing these three days.

location pics

location 1

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Location 2

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Location 3 (#)

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Location 4(#)

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When choosing our filming location we went to look at 4 different main locations.  Above you can see the 4 different locations, due to the nature of our film we decided to chose location 3 and 4 as the potholes and large trees matched the look we wanted to create a spooky but somehow calming setting to put the characters into.   we did not choose location 1 as the access was not great and it was near a very busy main road so didn't want to risk getting background noise from it.  Location 2 was not chosen as it was too straighter road and we would not of been able to get the right shots that we wanted.  Location 3 and 4 were perfect as we had everything we needed without have to change anything to give it the most natural feel possible.

Actors

Today we chose who we wanted to act each part in our film. We needed a mature adult male who was able to drive the car we also wanted him to wear a suit. We chose my dad (Derrick) as he was willing to help us out, this also convenient as it was easy to arrange filming dates with him. At one point we were going to ask a teach form our school to play this role but we came to the conclusion that it would be very hard to arrange filming dates.

The matter of the teenage group was the next priority, all we did for this is approach a group of 8's and ask them if they would be willing to help out. We managed to get Jon, Sean, Connor and Hayden to play these roles for us. The next problem was getting parental consent from all their parents luckily Tom know Jon already and his parents were very helpful, this then allowed us to film them.

Horror film Planning - Plot and title

The first thing we did as a group was to come up with a plot for our film, we came up with about 3 different plots but when we sat down and thought about them it became apparent that none of them would work. we then spent the rest of that lesson thinking of ideas to use, at the end of the lesson we still didn't have a plot.  During the weekend one of the members in our group had the idea of a sequence that leads up to a child getting run over, we discussed this and all agreed that it was a good idea so then started to expand on the idea. 

• The final plot ended up as a teacher driving home from the school that he works at and the lead up to a teenager getting run over because the teacher looses concentration because his phone rings, as the title sequence. 
• The opening sequence is the next shot from when the car hits the teenager, this includes the teacher getting out of the car, seeing the blood on the bonnet of the car and on the road, panicking, stumbling back into his car and speeding off, whilst he drives off you can see the teenager in the rear view mirror covered in blood.
• the plot would the go on to reveal that the teacher works at the same school as the teenager was from, the teacher then panics about it and becomes mentally disturbed and starts to kill other teens from the school until the police find out about his actions and come to the school the event ends in a hostage situation and the teacher gets shot the camera then pans around to see the ghosts of all the teens that he killed and him in front of them all.

Film rating

Most horror films are rated either 15 or 18 as they allow the horror content.

According to the 'BBFC' the classification of the age 15 rating is :

"Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised. Imitable behaviour Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘f**k’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘c**t’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification."

We decide to chose this age range as the horror relevance in our film corresponds best to this rating.  It also allows us to broaden the age range that our film is being shown to instead of being 18 to 24 it would be 16 to 24 involving hundreds of thousands more people in our film.