KT: Evaluation Questions Plan/Draft

Coursework Evaluation

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our horror opening "Followed" conforms to traditional conventions of horror films as it conducts an element of suspicion of how the antagonist is following the protagonists and how they get to a location before the victim does. The characters we used are also conventional and almost cliche as the protagonist is a young, blonde, teenage girl who is oblivious to what is going on in her surroundings. Alongside this the antagonist follows this convention also by being mysterious, faceless and wearing black or dark colors and never revealing his identity which creates enigma.
The Mise-en-scene we included in our opening consisted of orangey lighting which was natural of the scene. It conducted a feeling or eeriness as the streetlights reflected off the protagonists face. We also used iconography and included a butcher knife to be the main prop. This is traditional of horror and our sub genre, slasher, as this item is a cliche object to use for the protagonists murder.
We used a range of different shots in our camera work and used multiple tracking shots as we felt this gave our opening a professional and cinematic feel. We also used tilt angles as in horror this conveys that things are out of place and something is wrong, leaving the audience on edge.
For our editing style we chose continuity editing and cut between a number of different angles and close up's to match our quick, upbeat non-diegetic soundtrack of 'sunshine, lollipops and rainbows' by Lesley Gore.This technique prevents the audiences eyes from straying as they are presented with a new image every few seconds.
The typography we used represents our sub genre of slasher as the type is bold, scratchy lettering which connotes blood splatters. We positioned our titles in shots which had space as to fill up the screen. We didn't want to overlay the text with a character as this would take away from the shot as the actions of what is happening. For our 'Followed' title we used an animation of the lettering filling up with blood to match our sub-genre and the gruesome, gory, slasher theme.
We used colour correction on some of our shots as the lighting didn't match the rest of the sequences as it was filmed earlier on a different day. We used RGB to make the shots have an orange tinge.

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our opening represents white, middle class, teenage girls to be careless and unsuspecting as a number of alarm bell's go off from each time we see the killer, however the girl is completely oblivious up until she steps in her bedroom door. It shows this social group to be more interested in their appearance and how people see them than their immediate safety and surroundings. This social group is presented negatively as they are the target of sick, killers due to their carelessness. This social group is conventional of horror to be the protagonist as they are viewed as weak and vulnerable.
The other social group being represented is a small niche as the antagonist is viewed as an older man with mental issues as he has the desire to kill. This group is presented negatively as they pry on young, vulnerable girls. The dominant ideology of the opening is that teenagers are most likely to be targeted for murders and crimes due to their vulnerability and unsuspecting attitude.

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our horror film 'Followed' would most likely be distributed with a company such as Vertigo Films as they deal with independent film makers who work with a low budget and aim for high production values. For example "Monsters" was picked up by Vertigo films and edited in Gareth Edward's bedroom by himself. The style of our independent film is a narrative following the killer and would list through the number of different victims and the way in which he follows and stalks them. The technique that would connect out film to an audience would mainly through Web 2.0 as we would have a low marketing budget and Web 2.0 is very cheap as it connects through social media and is directed at our target audience. Synergistic marketing could also be used and partnerships made through a range of products featured in the film to ensure both parties benefit from the promotion.
There would most likely be an exhibit of the film and not a cinematic release as the film has low production budget so would not be able to compete with the mainstream movies from Warner Bros and other conglomerate companies as our film appeals to a niche audience.

Q4/5: Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?
Our core target audience is male and female between 16-24 as in our audience research we found this is the age that is most interested in horror. The characters appeal to this target audience as they are around the same age as the audience which makes the characters relatable and adds another element of horror as the audience can imagine themself in the protagonists position. We tested our concept and sequence multiple times whilst editing and after audience feedback changed the murder scene to appeal more to our target audience. We cut down parts and made it quicker, more seamless process to achieve verisimilitude and make the action believable. Our final testing of our audience showed that a few of them did not like the music soundtrack we had put in, I then re-edited and changed the music to another 'The police, Every move you make' but Mel and I decided in the end that it would not fit as we had edited our footage around the original soundtrack to be quick and fast paced. Therefore we did make changes to enhance our demographic and keep them interested, however we had to make ultimate decisions that would ensure everything flowed correctly as well.


Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As an individual I have learnt many new skills regarding the editing software, Premier Pro. I had never used the programme before I started this project so everything we used in the opening I have learnt from scratch. I have learnt how to colour correct shots along with how to add in clips over each other and how to animate a title sequence. Alongside the editing section of things, I have also learnt how to use blogger successfully and how to embed videos and post photos. I have also achieved a number of skills on prezi which has improved my presentation skills and allowed me to have knowledge of a new piece of software.
I have been able to upgrade my film making skills and learn how to use a track and dolly which gives a cinematic feel to a shot. This has enabled me to see what looks good and what doesn't and make important decisions about when to cut a shot to achieve the best possible outcome.
I have learnt important techniques such as the 180 degree rule that you should not film both sides of the circle, only one in order to convey which side a character is on.

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?I think we have learnt that the matter of sound is extremely important especially in the horror genre as it creates a climax to the action. Some problems we found in 'Followed' were getting technically excellent shots and attention to detail, where as in our prelimanary task we didn't have to worry about those things as greatly. Therefore we found it difficult to achieve this and ended up having some continuity problems such as bags in the shot or the white sheet not being over the bed in a separate shot.
However, because of our preliminary task we were able to establish what worked well and what was conventional of horror alongside our research. As we were able to plan and storyboard our actual opening, this made a big difference and improvement if you compare it to our prelimanary task where we had little preparation and hadn't visited the area before so didn't know what to expect.

Group: VOX Audience Research

After we did a screening to our target audience, we sent out questionnaires to find out what people liked and didn't like about the film and also what they understood. Our results showed that most people thought the soundtrack was effective and they understood the plot of the film. 10/10 people understood how the girl died.

We also asked two students to being in a video for us about what they felt about the film.

Katie Individual Contrinution 21/01 & 06/02

My individual contribution to this task on the 21st of January was that I uploaded and edited some footage we re-filmed into the sequence. This aided in us being able to have a finished timeline as all the shots were in the correct order and the new footage was the right colouring.
On the 6th of February I edited two different final pieces and uploaded them to Youtube and the blog. This helped us decide what final ending we wanted our piece to have and which music would fit best to establish our genre.

Group: Audience Research Result

This is our rendition of "Followed" which is the final cut with original music.

Since completing our Audience Feedback and being told that some viewers did not think that the music "sunshine, lollypops and rainbows" by Lesley Gore fitted our theme, we decided to try another approach and use "Every breath you take" by The Police as it would go well with our genre and create an eerie atmosphere.

This is the final cut with the new music. We have not yet decided if we would like this to be our final piece but it is a potential idea.

Group: Followed Audience Research

This is our finished cut of followed to be analysed for audience research. From the results we get we can edit our sequence more to fit the wants and needs of the target audience.





Strengths:

• Good sound, good range of shots, good idea, the shadow thing is really good
• The blood effect on the neck was nice
• Sinister music
• Good use of transitioning
• The actual shots and the order you have cut them in are actually pretty good
• Good angles
• Good music choice, it is almost too happy which fits the film quite nice as it makes us wonder what is going on

Weaknesses/To Improve:

• Bit slow, doesn't really make you scared
• The cuts aren't fast enough
• Music needs to build up
• Dip down the volume of the music for the duration of the sound effects at the start such as when she sees the guy in the mirror.
• Need shorter duration of shots
• Too predictable
• Characteristic banding in a number of shots which usually comes from pushing the shot way too far, or from grading in a program that isn't really designed for it.