Research on similar films

Research on Similar Films

 I decided to research Submarine as the protagonist is of a similar age as our protagonist Chris. 

Submarine is a story about a teenage boy juggling to fix the problems happening around him including his parents relationship but also his own with Jordana. He seems to struggle to fit in and be "normal" which is similar to our character who instead suffers from mental health issues. Our character will be a college student and will wear clothes that typical teenagers wear which is similar to how Oliver Tate in the film is relatable because he is just a secondary school student who on the outside appears no different to anyone else. Whilst Submarine is a comedy-drama and our film will be a psychological thriller we will take the way that Submarine has made Oliver Tate relatable through his character background and code of dress and will apply it to our protagonist Chris so people will relate with him and be sympathetic to what he is going through in the film.

Evaluation Q7

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

For our preliminary task we had to film someone opening and walking through a doorway, sitting down and then have a conversation with someone else. This was so we could learn practice keeping to the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and matches on action. We had to use Final Cut Express to edit it all together so it played out smoothly without any obvious editing or cuts. This was all useful as it allowed us to practice and see what we'd learned in action and got us to grips with how to use Final Cut Express. At first we struggled with getting the match on action to look smooth and continuous so we edited the first shot so it stopped just before the action began and then the second shot so it would start then and look smooth and uninterrupted.

   We used the skills we learned in the preliminary task and then applied them when making our 2 minute film. For example we made use of matches on action. This is evident when we see Chris passing through the metal bars in the fence. This added a sense of continuity in the film and made it look professional as there were no obvious mismatches which stopped the audience from being immersed in the film. 

   We used shot reverse shot in our film when we showed Chris talking to the bloodied man. It shows their facial expressions clearly and how nervous they both look which adds to their vulnerability and thus the tension as the audience is left wondering why.

   We deliberately broke continuity in our film as it was part of the narrative. We broke continuity as we wanted to use a flashback in order to explain the events the audience had just seen.

Evaluation Q6

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

Pre-Production
  Once we had decided what idea we were going to use to make our film we started by making the script using a programme called Celtx. Celtx allows users to create a script easily as it does all the formatting for the user which helped save us time in the long run. Whilst using this programme we learnt that scripts for film making are different as the positioning of the text or the use of brackets all have different meanings than they would on any other piece of text. For example names are always capitalised. 

Once we had finalised our script we created a storyboard. This helped us visualise how our story would play out on camera and help us decide which types of shot to use depending on what we were trying to present. It also helped us save time as it kept us on task when shooting as we had decided on what shots had looked best and weren't trying other shots just to see if they'd fit in. 

After that we created a shot list. The shot list meant that when we set off to film we knew what shots we needed and when which saved us lots of time in the long run. For example, later during production at one point we had forgotten what shot was next so, using a smartphone, we accessed Blogger, where we had saved our shot list so we could all access it, and looked up what we had planned which saved us time trying to guess what was next.

 We used our shotlist along with production packs so we were prepared each day and set off knowing what we were to film which made our time management effective. This still didn't always work out for us however and we had some troubles as we found on one occasion that the battery in the camera ran out after half an hour meaning we'd traveled quite far without managing to get all the footage we had planned on getting. From that point on we always made sure to check the camera before setting off anywhere.

Production
 For filming we used a Panasonic HD camcorder. This allowed us to film in high quality and with a sharp resolution which helped capture facial expressions in closeups. We also used a tripod which helped keep our shots steady and maintain the quality. This prevented any shots from being shaky. We also used the tripod to keep the footage from being shaky when we used ice on the floor to recreate a dolly shot by gliding it across the ice.

Post Production
 Once we had finished filming we uploaded all our footage on to an Apple iMac. We had a programme called Final Cut Express installed on the iMac which allowed us to edit our footage appropriately. We found Final Cut Express easy to use and beyond the basics of cutting clips and adding transitions we also managed to do more advanced editing such as adding a crackling noise to the voice on the phone to Chris and change it's frequency which made it sound like a realistic phone call. We also changed the saturation and contrast on the clips at the beginning which made it look dreamy and odd which helped connote the feeling of something not being quite right across to the audience. Once we had finished editing we uploaded our film on to Youtube for people to view. We didn't have any trouble with post production other than occasionally forgetting to render the change in contrast but the programme would tell us when we'd done that so it was easily fixed.

Evaluation Q5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

 Our target audience is young people of either gender aged between 15 to 25 (For this reason and research on the bbfc website we gave our film a 15 age rating). They would likely lead active lifestyles due to their age and would enjoy cinema. Once we had decided on our audience we questioned people who matched up to our target audience on what they would expect and like to see in our film.

Due to our research and our target audience we decided to make our protagonist a young teenager themself in order to make them relatable and therefore more appealing to our audience. We used an actor who was a teenager themselves so our Chris character looked realistic which we reinforced through his code of dress. We had the character dress in trendy clothes that a teenager would wear these days.

We then showed our film once completed to a few people who matched our target audience. All of them said that the Chris character was relatable and looked like a modern day teenager. The majority said that the settings looked "scary" and found the film to be tense and suitable for the psychological thriller genre. One person however said that the characters dialogue was unrealistic and that transition from the woodland area to the worksite seemed too sudden and unrealistic. In the future we would research more into dialogue used in psychological thrillers so it sounds more natural and realistic rather than forced. We would also consider looking at using transitions in order to make the transition from each setting more smooth. 

Evaluation Q4

Evaluation Q3

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WNAUuWAZO5RDRzU5-4MxMpSDL2pE8pXxbKLWpyKfdYo/edit?usp=sharing

Evaluation Q2

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

 Our film challenges many stereotypes of particular social groups through the use of cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. 

 Throughout the 2 minute clip of our film we represent teenager and young adults as being vulnerable and also subvert gender stereotypes as they are all male and are being represented in this way . Chris is wearing clothes such as a shirt and tracksuit bottoms which is stereotypical of a teenager. This adds to the realism of the film which helps add tension. The man on the floor has fake blood on him which shows he is in danger and in need of help. Chris' dialogue throughout the clip consists of him asking for help and screaming which connotes his vulnerability. Also throughout the clip we used high angle shots to reinforce Chris' vulnerability. We also used a high angle shot on the bloodied up young adult to show he is vulnerable too. We also used paced editing as Chris is running away to add to the tension and reinforce Chris' vulnerability. The effect of everything above represents young people as being vulnerable. Also, often in the media, men are represented as being tough and brave whilst in our film our use of cinematography, sound, mis-en-scene and editing represent them as being weak and vulnerable. 

 Whilst there is no women at the beginning we planned on introducing female characters later on in the film through the role of care workers which is a stereotypically female job as women are stereotypically caring.

Evaluation Q1

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

We created our film to be a psychological thriller. Often psychological thrillers, such as The Shining, the antagonist starts out sane but as the story progresses something about the location or an event causes them to lose their sanity and become more dangerous to the protagonists. Our film conforms to this convention as our character Chris is traumatized by an event which causes him to lose his grip on reality. Our film, however, challenges the normal conventions of psychological thrillers as our character Chris is also the protagonist. 

Our narrative also subverts the genre conventions of psychological thrillers as our film starts by showing what is happening to our protagonist later on the film before a flashback starts the story back at the beginning so the audience can see what or who our protagonist is running away from.

Based on our research of the film Eden Lake, a psychological thriller, we decided to use the setting of a lake surrounded by woodland. The woodland and lake connote danger to the audience as there are plenty of places where danger could be lurking unseen. We also used the setting of an abandoned worksite. The large open area connotes vulnerability as the audience sees Chris is all alone with nobody to help him. Our final setting is that of a care home which also has connotations of vulnerability as our character Chris is obviously unable to look after himself which would make the audience sympathetic as they've just seen what he's gone through before the flashback. 

 In the first 2 minutes of our film we conformed to the genre conventions of psychological thrillers through our use of sound. We included the diegetic sound of waves at the beginning to keep our film realistic and to make the audience think about water as that is a theme throughout our film. We also used non-diegetic sound in the form of piano music playing in the background. The music builds up slowly which adds to the tension as the audience tries to work out who or what is after our protagonist. Another example of non-diegetic sound we used which conforms to genre stereotypes was a high pitched static sound. This signified a change from present time to the flashback. We also used a voice-over to help establish the narrative.
  
   Psychological thriller films often use a mixture of different types of shots in order to build tension. We used this in our film for the same effect. For example we used dolly shots to make the audience focus on the fear on Chris' face. We also used high angle shots on the bloodied up man to connote his vulnerability as he asks for help.

 We also used props through the use of fake blood. This is a typical genre convention of psychological thrillers as blood connotes danger and in the instance of our film, leaves the audience wondering what caused it thus adding to the tension.

Evaluation - Question 7

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

What brief were you working to?
Our preliminary task involved filming two characters having a conversation, this began with one character sat in a room and the other walking inside the room, then sits down and has a conversation.
This meant that we had to cover the basics of filming such as; shot-reverse-shots, match on action, continuity and keeping to the 180 degree rule. This had to be then edited using Final Cut Express which helped us gain some experience before hand of our film.

Our preliminary task
Having learnt the four main rules to filming we ensured that we presented this through our preliminary video, this was so that we could show that we have understood and able to produce a film successfully. During filming we were all comfortable and successful with applying the 180 degree rule because we pictured a line across the centre of the chairs which helped us to stay within the boundaries. However, we had experienced slight difficulties during the filming process with match on action as our shots didnt seem to be continuous. The changes we made to improve this was adopting the method of freezing between shots so that they were continuous. This had improved our skills and knowledge as we knew how to work through difficult situations.

How did you use what you learned in the preliminary task in the 2 minute film?

Shot-reverse-shot: We used a shot-reverse-shot in our 2 minute film when a conersation merged between 'Chris' and the desperate, injured man. This method was used in order to achieve a more tense scene which is typical of our genre, over-the-shoulder shots were used to portray this.

Continuity: All three scenes in our film were continous shots which helped add to the effect of realism. However, we did break contuinity in our film and this was to show the difference in time by adding a jump cut. This was when Chris is taken back to the beginning to show the audience what happened to him and what lead to his death.

Match-On-Action: We had become moderately confident with doing this shot after having done this successfully in our preliminary task. We made good use of this in our full film where Chris runs through a fence, the match on action shot we produced made the overall output look professional whcih boosted our confidence in being able to do this.

180 Degree rule:  During filming we made an imaginery line accross the centre of Chris's view so that we could stay within bounds of the 180-degree line. If we hadn’t done this and we went over the angle, the film itself would not flow continuity and would not be edited coordinately. I also believe that if we had not trained these shots in the preliminary exercise, it would have been challenging to understand and shooting our 2-minute film wouldn't have been as successful and produced the film to a high standard.


What have i got better at?

The preliminary task itself gave us the opportunity to understand the basics of how to use the camera and the range of shots to create a continuity overall in the video. By experimenting these rules, we gathered our own weaknesses and strengths and depending on those we decided to focus on our weaknesses, and that’s the main reason why now we all individually feel like we can use a camera without any difficulty, use variety of shots to create a meaning in a video/film, use editing on final cut express to create continuity overall for the film, and in general be familiar with all the things we have used throughout this process.

We faced many challenges during our filming, such as deciding whether our 2 minute film should be a linear narrative or not, this was dependant on the way we also shot our film so was quite tricky until we made a clear and final decision. I now feel a lot more confident with using a camera to film things around me by using different techniques and methods in order to create a story. I could also use final cut express fluently to edit videos and create a film, as I originally didn’t have much knowledge about editing before the filming process.

Evaluation - Question 6

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

Pre-production:
In our pre-production our main objectives were to plan how and where our film would be shot and also mainly what will be in our film, this meant that we had to come up with ideas. Firstly, we created a script using 'Celtex' this was very beneficial because it allowed us to easily format to different script types and has editing tools ensuring that the experience was simple and easy for us as users. Once the script was complete, it helped us gain different ideas that could be possibly used in our film. After this we created a pictured and quoted storyboard which was supposed to give a visual prediction around what our film will turn out to be like. An example of when this had helped us stay focused was; one day we had forgot how a shot should be took for a particular scene, at this point we referred back to the storyboard which helped us stay on track. We had used Blogger as a source for information to be shared within our group, we posted our research and made discussions around this easily and time effectively. Finally in our pre-production we created the shot list for our film, this contained information on every shot that will be taken for our film. The shot list contained information such as; the type of shot, angle, dialogue and equipment needed, this helped us effectively manage the time we had for each day of filming.







Production:
The filming for our film only took 4 days to produce, this was planned and set accordingly to each scene we had planned for each day. We used a Panasonic HD camcorder as this was known to be handy and effective producing high quality and resolution, this allowed us to benefit from being able to film in scenes that had low key lighting such as the abandoned street. We had used a range of shots during our filming, these include; close ups, extreme close ups, mid shots, establishing shots, POV shots, low angle and dolly shots. Most of our filming was used with the camcorder being attached to the tripod so that we had steady clear shots of the scenes. I think that after using the camera we had got more confident and believe this was a reason towards us being able to film a dolly shot, the dolly shot was produced with help from a wheelie chair and slight spread of ice on the ground as we did this for two scenes in our film.




Post-production: After we had completed all of our filming, we uploaded all the videos onto an Apple iMac so that it can be edited, to do this we used a software called Final Cut Express. This software enabled us to edit out film very easily as getting used to it was very simple having clear labels and icons displaying it's use. We were able to cut our video clips into certain lengths that we desired and had the option to add a variety of effects such as dissolve and fade. We were also able to cut videos and sounds apart which allowed us to insert the police officer's dialogue in the video of 'Chris' speaking on the phone, this made the scene look realistic as we were also able to change the frequency of the police officer's voice which output a realistic phone call. After we had completed all of our editing we uploaded our film onto YouTube and Blogger to be viewed.


         

Evaluation - Q.7

Evaluation - Q.6

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

Pre production - In our pre-production we needed to plan how our film would be shot, where it would be shot and most importantly what would go in our film. The first thing we created was a script which was created using celtex which incorporated explicit themes of the psychological horror genre, including a high amount of running and blood. The script helped us incorporate different ideas that had been proposed in our film ideas and made them plausible. The next thing we needed to create was the storyboards which visualised what our film would look like, and would help us stay on track with what we had planned in our script. For example when we weren't sure or had forgotten how a certain shot should look we referred back to the storyboards which gave us a visual representation of how we had wanted the film to look. Finally, we created our shot list, which featured every single shot we would put in our film. The shot list also merged with the script and listed the different equipment we would need for each shot. We followed the shot list in reverse order and with the shot list telling us how many shots were in each scene we could effectively manage our time for each day of filming.

Production - For our filming we used a Panasonic HD camcorder as opposed to smaller digital cameras as it had a sharp resolution and generally a high level of quality which filmed well during our lower lit scenes, in the abandoned street. Some of the shots we were able to make look professional with the use of this camera included: extreme close ups, extreme long shots, establishing shots and handheld point of view shots. We also used the camera as well as the tripod to create dolly shots, which were made possible due to there being a small section of ice on the abandoned street which we used to slide the tripod and camera across.

Post production - Once we had filmed all of our scenes we uploaded our footage onto an Apple Mac computer which was then edited with Final Cut Express. With this specific technology we were able to cut our footage down into the lengths we desired, as well as adding numerous effects such as dissolves and cuts. With the sound we had recorded for the phone call scene we were able to distort it which gave the effect of a real life conversation where the phone would crackle. Once we had finished editing we were able to upload the footage to youtube with the mov. format which we then were able to upload to our blog.

Evaluation - Q.5

How did you attract/address your audience? 

Do you think you have reached your target audience?

After writing the synopsis of the first two minutes of our film and printing it off we filmed a video questionnaire with numerous individuals asking them questions relating to genre and our film. Through the video questionnaire and our research on the bbfc website we decided that the correct classification for our film would be a 15.

 

What did you include when planning your production that you thought would appeal to your audience?

The main demographic we targeted were teenagers and young adults and therefore the characters we decided to feature in our film would be around 16/17 years of age which would mean our audience would be able to relate with them more as opposed to older characters. We also decided that our characters would wear quite trendy, casual clothes like joggers, polo shirts and trainers which our demographic would associate with.

What has been successful in your production?

Time management was crucial to the success of the production, and we successfully carried out our filming in our planned time period. We created a production plan for each day (three in total) which we stuck by and referred to if we didn't know what else to do. This helped us complete our tasks in time. The three locations we filmed at were: Barnsley college, a lake within Dearne Valley Park and an abandoned industrial estate just outside of Barnsley town centre. The lake near Dearne Valley Park was often fairly busy and a few dogs walkers walked past during our first day of filming. Therefore on the second day of filming at the lake we decided to go at an earlier time which meant that less people walked past and we subsequently had more time to film. Another success we had with the production was how realistic our characters were. In order to increase the sense of realism we used a water bottle which was poured over Chris' head in order to imply he had just come out of the lake, whereas in reality he hadn't. The Desperate Man also had 'blood' placed on his white t-shirt, which was made at home. This relates back to our research, which concluded blood is often used in psychological horror films.


What was less successful? How can it be improved? 

One thing that was less successful was the efficiency of our camera in terms of battery life. For example, sometimes we would take the camera out to our location and thirty minutes later the battery would run out. This would meant the previous filming we did would have to be scrapped as the next day the lighting was completely different and subsequently the shots done on day one when compared with day 2 looked entirely different. This subsequently wasted our time as we had got prepared for the day in advance, and we subsequently had to go back to college. If I were to do the filming again I would make sure the battery life was on 100% meaning we wouldn't have to re-do shots and waste our precious time.

Evaluation - Q.4

Evaluation - Q.3

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

The distributor we chose for our film is the locally based Warp Films (Sheffield). After researching Warp Films we found out they are an independent producer and distributor who have produced critically acclaimed British films such as, Four Lions and Submarine. We believe that our film would be ideal for Warp Films seen as they haven't distributed any psychological horror films and therefore our film would help them break into a new genre. Our film's similarities with Warp's include a young protagonist of similar age to the one in 'Submarine'. We discovered that Warp Film's don't have high budget when compared with some of conglomerates such as Time Warner, however they have a niche market in the UK and distribute 'typically British Films', with their audience being teenagers and young adults which is the audience we are aiming our film at. Warp Films would also be an ideal candidate to distribute our film as they often premiere most of their films at independent film festivals like the Sundance Film Festival. If our film was to be exhibited at such an event we could be able to distribute our film to other countries like America and Australia. 


Warp films have produced the film Submarine which features the protagonist Oliver Tate and follows his life at home and school as he tries to get and maintain his relationship with Jordana. This film, despite not being of the horror genre, does feature a teenage protagonist similar to our main character, Chris. Many of Warps films have been typically British films that aren't Americanised which is exactly what we want our film to be. We also believe our target audience will be from the age of 15 above which is the audience Warp Films often distributes its films to. 

Evaluation - Q.2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Age - In our film we have the social groups of young people in the first two minutes of our film, and throughout the rest of the film we have adults, both male and female. Our film's depiction of young people presents them as vulnerable and in danger. For example Chris throughout the film is shown through high angled shots which create a sense of danger and impending doom, which works well when accompanied by the diegetic sound of his screams and shouting. We also made use of fast paced editing in the running scenes to thrill the audience and present Chris as a very scared individual. The character of the Desperate Man in our film further reinforces the ideology that young people are vulnerable and in need of protection. The Desperate Man is shown lying on the floor covered in blood. 

Gender - Our first two minutes featured two men and the voice of another male characters. Despite, seemingly looking androcentric within the first two minutes, we had planned to add many more female characters throughout the rest of the film. The men in the first two minutes, weren't portrayed as stereotypical male characters (usually brave and masculine), and instead were portrayed as weak and vulnerable. 



Mise en scene - Through the use of clothing and props like blood we were able to make Chris look like a stereotypical teenager who wears comfortable clothing like joggers and trainers. Also the use of blood added to the sense of vulnerability of the Desperate Man as it suggested he had been stabbed and attacked. 


Editing - Through the use of editing, more specifically through the changing of colour we were able to make the woods and street scene brighter and more orange in order to make it look dreamy and denote that this happened a while later than the home scene. 

Camera - In order to portray the young character of Chris we frequently made use of high angled shots in order to convey a sense of vulnerability and make the audience empathise with Chris. We also used two dolly shots during our film in order to create a sense of realism and subsequently make the audience feel like they were there with Chris and therefore they would be more likely to be scared and question what was going on. 



Sound - In order to create a sense of suspense and portray the characters as vulnerable in our film we used as little dialogue as we could in order to make our audience question what was happening. We relied on ambient sounds like the wind and the tweeting of birds to create a sense of isolation, especially in the woods scene. We had to edit the sound of the phone call, in order to make it sound like it was a legitimate phone call that would happen if somebody was calling 999.  

Evaluation - Q.1

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