Upon completing this project, I have realised i have learned a lot from the stage is was at during the prelim. Most importantly I learned that a good storyline which is manageable with the amount of actors is crucial as we suffered a huge blow with the first film as it was simply unattainable. It also helped me learn that as this was a bigger project time management is something that needs to be focused on to ensure deadlines are easily met nothing is rushed. I also believe that filming more footage than required is important in order to choose what you really want and be completely happy with your film. We did this with Mr. Tates fantasies in order to ensure we had enough and that they were good enough quality. I also believe my editing skills have come a long way since i completed the preliminary task as I was only using sound effects before. Now I was using visual effects and transitions from shots leading to a more fluid and professional quality product. Further filming techniques and new shots were also learned such as crane shots. Although not all were used on our final film, I am aware of them and plan on coming back to them in the future. Finally, the most important thing I learned was organization is vital and always make targets attainable.
The Evaluation: Question 7
Question 7- Lookin back at you preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Below is the revised, finished copy of our prelim task that was uploaded to Youtube.
The Evaluation: Question 6
Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learned many things during the course of this media project. First and most important, we have been working on iMac computers. I do however own a Macbook and am very familiar with the computers, however this has taught me many skills i am now able to use by my self because of this project. This is heavily due to the software we have used such as Final Draft to begin with. We used this software as it is a very easy and practical way to form a script. It has a perfect layout and simply requires detail just typed into the correct area, while also having the ability to rule off new scenes and shots. We used Final Cut in order to edit the film clips and piece them all together to create the film itself and using non-destructive editing to maximize efficiency in our editing as opposed to working on the timeline. Effects i had not used at all such as sepia effect and soft edges on the frame were used on Mr. Tates scenes in order to show it was separate from reality. We also understood how to export it from a series of clips looking like a film on the software to becoming one piece by exporting it as a Quicktime movie. I had never encountered this before and found it interesting an a pleasure to use. The animatic was also pieced together on this with the use of voiceover to enable us to record a rough guideline for speech over the top of the animatic. It is also something i would not mind toying with in my spare time. Soundtrack Pro is yet another piece of software key to producing the final product. It enabled the surreal sound effects in our film to become easy to do and helped master our sound in order to cancel out overpowering ambience noise and other unwanted sounds. We also found out about switching the sound file to Final Cut to incorporate it into our film by importing it as an AIFF into Final Cut. The only downside however was the lack of a hardcopy of our film and some of the planning. This meant if an iMac was to crash on us, work was lost without hope of retrieving it. This happened to us but we learned to cope and start afresh.
The cameras we have used were Sony DV cameras with a Sony tripod to hold it steady. Once the shots were recorded on tape, the camera was plugged into an iMac using firewire which works at a much quicker speed than USB cables to capture it into Final Cut. This took time but once it was completed the use of the tape was removed except for back up purposes if the worst happened and the whole machine crashed. During the first shot of Tate walking, we used a track and dolly to easily and fluidly record his footsteps. We also used three point lighting in some shots to accent certain parts of the shot, often actors to draw importance. I had not used this technology before and enjoyed learning how to operate it. Furthermore, although familiar with Youtube, I learned even more such as how to embed code into my blog to link a video to it. The blog itself was new to me and was something new in which i now have a profile for and know
how to use.
The Evaluation: Question 5
Question 5- How did you attract/address your audience?
The audience is attracted by, in the opening scene, mysterious music is overplayed while the camera focuses on Mr. Tates feet, instantly making the audience wonder who it is. When Mr. Tate starts his interview, the conversation doesn't labour and gets straight into it. During this, it flashes to a thought of Tates, but not for long leaving a thought of "What was that?" this would draw in the reader. These visions happen over again and establish what is happening, but still leaving the audience wondering whether this has happened or if it is still to happen, it could even be just his imagination. This establishes suspense in the film, drawing the viewers in and securing their attention early and also confirms Mr. Tate is not entirely normal, further amplified by the buzzing sound effects in each of his thoughts, representing he does not think normally and straight like most people. Our film is different to most others as the is a sense of you think you know what is going to happen next, however you are not entirely sure, thus find yourself enthralled to see if it does turn out how it is first shown.
Our film has many aspects within it in which the target audience was addressed. First of all, the more fast paced scenes will address very well to the age range of our audience as there will be plenty of excitement for them, as well as the mystery into why Mr. Tate is how he is. Both sexes are well addressed in the film. Women are attracted to Diannes character as a heroine and the boss of a company, perhaps helping them to see her as a role model and aspire to be a success like her. Men are attracted to her aswell as Mr. Tates character as he is the dominant violent one, something of which most men will enjoy watching
The Evaluation: Question 4
Question 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?
I would see our audience would be educated people from 15 - 30 years of age and I believe their will be an equal amount of boys and girls roughlt. I believe first of all a small amount of education is at least required as the nature of Mr. Tate will need some mild understanding rather than people just assuming 'psycho'. To receive full satisfaction and understanding from the film, it important that they realize he is not well mentally and not just hell bent on murder and there is something behind it all. The age range is due to the violence factor. It is a little too high for younger viewers as it is quite violent in places and has scenes such as stranglings. 30 years of age will be where the age range begins to stop due to the age of the characters and the whole concept of a story as older people may not be interested in the storyline. A certificate of 18 will of course have to be added to the film due to the violence and maybe some of the language and the sexual nature of the filmwill not be suitable for younger viewers by any means. This is especially nessecary as it will likely be a DVD success if it does well in the cinema as the age of our audience will me most likely to buy it and watch with friends. Finally i believe there will be no division of genders in this film as it has offers for both sexes in the film.
An ideal member of our audience is Eric. Eric is 18 years old and enjoys films, his favourites of which are the Da Vinci Code, the Saw films and the series of the Hannibal films as they require either more concentration to the plot or relate to a criminal with sophisticated mind. Every Wednesday he goes out with his girlfriend to the cinema, a trip which they both enjoy. He loves music such as dubstep and indie and plays in a band when he is not studying. He is in his first year at university and studies criminal psychology which he enjoys. The career he aspires towards is to work in the forensics department and to work on the psychological side of the police force.
The Evaluation: Question 3
Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I personally could see a combination of Working Title Films and Universal distributing our film. I believe this is because first of all, Working Title Films heavily supports British films, which is what our film would be. Universal generally comes hand in hand with Working Title Films so having both of them would be very good and I could see it being very ideal. Our film would definitely not be a Hollywood Blockbuster but I could see it definitely reaching the cinema and have a reasonable budget. Universal would also be drawn by the potential for an American audience as it is not completely British orientated, as the locations maybe British, the soundtrack maybe could be Americanised. In truth, it could be compared to 'The Boat That Rocked', a film we study for the theoretical side of this subject, in the way that it could potentially hit an audience as opposed to its actual success. CGI could also be used in the film during any of the violent scenes, further drawing attention from bigger companies such as these . This is due to our film having an interesting storyline and interesting characters, particularly a chance to relate to Diannes character. I feel if we did have our film distributed by Working Title Films and Universal, it would be a perfect combination.
The Evaluation: Question 2
Question 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product demonstrates the many key aspects of the roles of male and female as well as the professionalism of the company boss. Good and evil is also demonstrated within our media film . Firstly, females are represented as firstly easiest to prey on and very helpless, showcased in Mr. Tates fantasies. It also plays on the delicacy of a woman and them being an easily manipulated sex. However in the 'reality' scenes the female is actually dominant. She is the head of the company and makes all the decisions, in fact is in complete control of the situation. Dianne is quite clearly an independent woman but does want a male element in our film. Dianne is also the good character as she is innocent and does nothing wrong, she is also the one who is the victim and must prevail over the evil character to survive and to cease any other attacks from him, a typical role of a 'goody' A very good example i thought of to describe this would be M, the head of MI6 in the James Bond films as all of these attributes fit her character and she is a 'goody' in the film, where as the submissive, defenseless girl can be described, as fore mentioned in the first evaluation question, the majority of female victims in films.
Mr. Tates character seems a rather intelligent male character and portrays that sex very well. In the scenes of his fantasies he is obviously dominant. He does all the chasing in the film and is very physically strong and fast. During the interview he is calm an collected and seems intelligent. He is blatantly telling Dianne everything she wants to here to get close to her and to get the job. All of this portrays a typical male figure as the more dominant sex. He is also very clearly seen as a big representation of evil. He wants to kill and hurt and gets enjoyment out of it, it is also the reason for him trying for the job. A character perfect for portraying both of these sides and the type of male the film wants to show the audience is Hannibal Lecter from Hannibal as this is how his character is, intelligent and totally dominant in all situations. He too is also an 'evil' character
The Evaluation: Question 1
Our film develops many common forms and conventions of typical thrillers. First and foremost is the costume in which we have chosen. Not so much for the office scenes, but more for the scenes in which Mr. Tate is dreaming and imagining what he could do to Dianne. He is a typical killer. He is all dressed in black, with black hair and is male. This is of course the norm for a murder in a film. An example of this could be Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the lambs as he, as shown below, is seen dressed in black.
Another example of this is he is a young male as the killer is often not seen to be a woman in the majority of films. This is due to the male sex seen to be stereotypically more dominant and forceful than that of a woman. I found a prime example of this was Tony Montana in Scarface as he is a villain and also is a fairly young angry male.
The next similarity we have is the location in which all the fantasy scenes take place are another convention. They take place in a dark forrest, out of the way of any people or anything to disrupt the killer. A further example of this is in The Blair Witch Project, a film in which the whole film is in the woods and bad things happen in there.
The next convention that we have in our film is the fact that the victim is a woman. In nearly all films the victim is a woman as they are usually portrayed to be more helpless and the 'weaker sex' in films. An example of this i found was in the film Last House on the Left, a film in which a female is greatly seen as a victim under the offence of a male figure.
The next convention we incorporated is the aspect of someone in the film having multiple personality disorder. In our film, Mr. Tate is a rather calm person, but another side of him is much more sadistic and wants to physically abuse Dianne. Another film that demonstrates this is Fight Club in which the main character does not realise that his partner (soon to be enemy is in fact himself) is in fact not another person but himself.
The final convention we used was the utilisation of the point of view camera shots during the chase through the woods in which Mr. Tate pursues Dianne. It shows the film from the eyes of the killer and adds the element of you partaking in the crime. Another film that uses this is again The Blair Witch Project, however they use this to show the victim escaping the killer.
As well as using already established conventions, we also challenged a few in our film. First of all the title of the film is P.A, a story which shoes Mr. Tate apply to be an assistant or secretary, a role usually shown as a woman. He is also seeking to be employed by a woman as his boss, a role seen to be a man. This is usually as stereotypically, a high position is filled in by a man and the assistant generally a woman. Below is examples of these two stereotypes in the film Secretary, in which there is a female secretary serving a much more dominant male boss, a prime example of the convention.
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