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

Frame one- the title of the film

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The first frame I have selected is the film title;Quadrigenta. The film opening is a crime thriller based on a book and numbers therefore I have used the title of the movie whilst in the background the ultimate effect of the book is presented. This is important because it allows the reader to identify early what the storyline is and what the film is about but making the audience question the full story. The use of black and white shows the audience that this was back in time therefore making a distinct division between past and present which is important for the audience. I have used a clear bold white font which is very recognisable and easy for the audience to read. The title plays a key role as it its what splits up the opening to the film and when the films then films truly began. The bold font and the black and white back ground compliment one another and create a memorable title.

A film that we got inspiration form and followed the codes and conventions was 'Se7en'. My film and this film are the same genre and therefore this had an impact the way we constructed our piece and filmed it to make it as effective as this film. I have used the same sort of layout with the bold white title over the mysterious background.





Frame two- Costume and props

The first character in my film was Jordan, the character who finds the book in the present tense. The film is a crime thriller therefore there isn't a need for fancy costumes. Jordan wearing normal clothes allow the audience to feel a big sense of realism therefore making them feel even closer to the movie. Jordan's face isn't shown in the scene and this helps to convey the sense of mysteriousness trying to be presented. It makes the audience guess what's happening and who it is, creating tension. This is appropriate for the genre.

The second actor conveys the same tactical approach to create a sense of tension but this was set in the past, his face is being shown due to the panic of the situation and the urgency. The character is wearing normal clothes due to the conventions of the genre. The film is a modern crime thriller therefore his appearance is very appropriate with a modern outfit to let the audience know this is a modern film.








Frame three- creating the enigma

With the genre being a crime thriller enigma is important to be shown. The enigma was created within our opening scene as the audience will find it difficult to see why there is such focus on just a book, and why there is someone writing in it. Why is just a book so important? the audience will think that because the character dropped it and immediately chases it again that its very important. This creates the storyline straight away and makes the audience ask questions. This intrigues them even more and encourages them to carry on watching. The black and white effect used when in the past and normal in the present is important as it allows the audience to see that there is a history with the book, again creating tense and suspension.


Frame four- setting/location

This is one of the locations we used to film our opening scene. This was used for the running scene in the opening sequence it shows the character running in fright dropping the book and then quickly running back to retrieve the book after just losing it. It was filmed in Werrington and the location was very secluded and mysterious this allowed the scene to create a sense of tension as the scenery was also very frightening complimenting the suspense of the actors movement. This is perfect for our genre of crime thriller. There is no other activity in the scene therefore makes the audience concentrate on the characters actions. The secluded location allowed the effect to happen. The second location was in Emily's attic, we used that because it also helped create a sense of tension and mysteriousness. We needed a place inside to film and this was perfect, the attic had a very vintage feel to it which complimented the idea that the scene was filmed in the past. Also Jordan was searching for the book therefore he needed a place to look for it so an attic full of junk was ideal. The idea that someone had hidden also played in favour as it shows the true power of the book.



Frame five- Tittle font and style

Throughout our whole opening, we have stuck to one font and style apart from the title which is in bold to show importance. We kept the same theme basic but effective going all the way through. A lot of film opening do this therefore we have followed them. Again, the colour of the titles we have used is is white and bold to emphasise who made it for publicity. The white is a contrast against the darker colours used throughout the scenes and shots in our film opening this makes it easy for the audience to see the titles and attracts them too look at them.




Frame six- Genre and how the opening suggests it
The genre we have gone for is crime thriller. There are a number of ways in which the genre has come through the film opening to the audience. Parts of the film opening is black and white, this suggest a flashback of some sort to create the opening scene for the film. The searching around for the book makes it seem obvious the book is evil/bad, why would it be hidden away if not? the whole idea that people are crazy over the book is shown by the urgency of the running scene. If the book wasn't incriminating why would it be hidden? these are all questions the audience are asking themselves. The whole idea of it being hidden and the urgency shows that it is a bad book and there is something to hide this is perfect for the genre we chose to do it on 'crime thriller' as it includes criminal activity and thrilling suspenseful scenes. The voice over also helps to set the genre as it talks about the book and creates a sense of tension for the audience which is a conventions of crime thrillers.





Frame seven- How characters are introduced 

One of the main characters Jordan is introduced at the very start coming up into the attic and searching for the book. immediately we can see that it is set in modern times and the character Jordan is very much a normal boy. The fact that he is the first thing we see indicates that he is a main character and that we should concentrate on him because he has a very important role in the story line and potentially every action he makes they should watch due to the importance of the character. The second character is introduced with a cut shot and straight away the character is running with the book, the urgency of the character will attract the audience straight away. He drops the book this is very important in the scene. The character running would make the audience guess something bad is happening and that fits into the genre of crime thriller as it creates suspension.



Frame eight- Camera work and editing

Throughout our film opening we have used a variety of camera angles, shots and movements alongside a few editing techniques. The first thing we done was a mid shot to show the writing on the wall as it is very important to the storyline and creates a sense of optimism, Then we used a tracking shot to follow Jordan finding the book in the attic this allowed the audience to establish where Jordan was and what he was doing by following his movements. We also used an over the shoulder shot to see what Jordan was looking at again this allowed the audience to establish what is happening. We also used a point of view shot (POV) when Emily was writing in the book, this allowed the audience to have a clear view of the action taking place and allowed the audience to pay attention to detail. These specific shots were used consecutively to create the same effect to the audience and a consistent view point for the audience.


Frame nine- Story line and how the opening sets it up

The film opening is about a boy in the present who is looking for something in attic but finds the magical book. He faints due to the criminal power in the book and has a set amount of criminal activity to complete or he dies. The affect of the book also is shown in the past tense by the boy running and fainting when he doesn't retrieve it quick enough. The storyline is all about the book and this shown through the various camera angle and editing techniques used to portray the book. The voice over at the start also helps to create tension and help the audience understand the storyline.

Evaluation 2. How does your media product present particular social groups?

Although the torch lighting proves a little difficult to make out the costumes in our film, our protagonist (bottom picture) is inspired by 'Will Salas' (top picture) the main character in the film 'In Time', also an action/thriller genre. We felt it would better represent our protagonist if we took a different shot of him (not included in our film) to display his clothing. Additionally his facial expression is similar to the top character - both in deep thought.  




Both are presented wearing casual clothing  to show the realism of the piece. We chose this outfit for our character as we felt it accurately represents the general male’s attire in present day (for everyday life not work) and therefore the ordinariness would contrast with the futuristic, make-believe aspect of the film. In addition, although not properly shown in our opening scene, both characters have that heroic role and therefore are empathised with. This aspect would be shown in our film had we developed it as our main character is able to break the 40 day curse.As both of these films are set in the future the audience watching are more likely to be able to relate to the characters which overall could heighten excitement. 

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

The film production which i thought would be best suited for my film is film 4 as the company use a lot of modern British up and coming directors a chance to promote their films.

Also its a British company therefore my movie will fit in with their general target audience of British families. Film 4 also is a channel that everyone gets regardless of if they have sky etc or not, this will help promote the film. 

Film 4 play crime thrillers quite frequently so this aspect would be even better for promotion as film 4 will be more likely to invest into my movie. Me and film 4 have a similar target audience of families and teenagers so that is also a big benefit as the audience of film 4 would enjoy my movie this is beneficial for both parties.

Raising money for our film

Our film is a low budget film so raising the money would have to come from a loan, then eventually payed back when the film proves dividend. Another option could be that we pitch an idea to a british film distributor such as film4 and ask them to provide the facilities for the movie then let the keep a percentage of the profit made. Furthermore the money made could be invested into making a new film if the first one is successful.

Gaining interest from film 4

Ways of creating interest from film 4 could include social media trending and marketing, making posters and flyers getting the word out. Asking local businesses to promote our movie so that film 4 would notice the uprising movie. Further more sending film 4 a short gripping clip would ppotentiallyattract them into investing in to our product

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

The target audience we have primarily gone for is families from the ages thirteen plus. The age restriction is important because people younger than this will not understand the complicated story line and plot. The action also might be a bit too much for them too handle there fore an audience of teenagers plus cures all of these problems as they will be old enough to understand.
Then film will appeal more to male audiences rather than female due to it being a crime thriller and stereotypicaly men enjoy this genre than females but the film is aimed at both and can be easily enjoyed by both genders. The main characters are male so this also may attract more of a male audience because they could relate to it and feel closer to it than what a female would. The Main reasons for the target audience being a family is the questionnaire we conducted to find out what people would enjoy.

The target audience for my piece would enjoy common 'R n B' music and chart show music, very mainstream tracks that are played on the radio and enjoyed by a majority. They would shop in very main stream shops such as 'Burton' and 'Topman'/''Topshop' and 'h and m'
TV programmes they would typically watch is 'CSI' and 'Silent witness' these are all based on crime and include action. These all also can be enjoyed by families .

Evaluation 5. How did you attract/address your audience ?

• Having created a questionnaire in the early stages of my project about our chosen genre helped us to create an opening our target audience would enjoy. As our questionnaire was taken by a male and female audience aged between 16-18 and our teacher 25+ it was exactly the target audience we were looking for and therefore took their ideas on board. 

Questionnaire 
Research into our chosen genre from fellow pupils in our class, the questionnaire was as followed - 

1. What would you expect to see in an action thriller movie? (Tick more than one if you need too)

Our film opening includes a murder, physical stunts, and a race/chase. All of which our target audience voted the highest too. This was a way we addressed the audiences needs. 

- The murder - Amittai falling dead (with a 0 on his hand)

- The physical stunt - Amittai (running and drastically falling)

- The race/chase scene - Amittai dropping the book and having to run after it. 

 

 

2. What builds suspense in an opening scene?

Most answers we recieved have been included into our opening sequence. The ones that were not included would not have fit into our storyline so early on for example ''knives'. 

'Quick action music'

'A tense opening - usually if someone dies or its full of action' 

'fast cuts and music'

'Always leave the audience wanting to know what is happening' 

By including all these elements in our opening sequence addresses how we have taken on board our audiences preferences. 

3. What characters would you expect to see in an opening scene?

'Main characters'

'Main character/villain - someone who dies'

'Protagonist'

- Everyone in answered question 3 in our questionnaire said that the main character should be included. Hence why ours is. This again addresses the audience. 

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

The usual cameras weren't working very well and kept deleting the clips we were recording therefore switched to using an Iphone 6. The camera on the Iphone 6 is high definition and made it very easy for us to get the clips from the phone onto the computer. The phone was reliable and easy to set up and use, We also used the phone to record sound and include it in our opening, this was an easy process.

I was shown how to use the software efficiently and correctly. How to upload videos and how to change the format of the videos so it could be exported. It was very useful to use to be able to use youtube as it played a big part in the final product of our movie. We were able to preview what it looked like when properly finished. Youtube was very useful for finding clips to use an example when talking about the researching into making the film.


Prezzi was very useful in presenting research for
the making of the film on the blog. Prezzi allows you to present information easily and fashionably.

I also used adobe premiere pro cs4. Unfortunately after weeks of editing the software didn't let me view my videos on it. I learnt how to slow down clips and include transitions however it was unreliable so I had to use a
different software.

Alternatively I used movie maker to edit and construct my film opening. This software was very easy and effective to use. I could easily insert text, edit transactions and insert black and white effects. Movie Maker was very useful and made it possible for me to finish my product at a high standard in quick succession due to the failures of adobe premiere pro.

Evaluation 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?