Evaluation

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

My two minute opening uses forms and conventions from the Horror movie ‘Scream’, and this film influenced me to make my media product using similar forms and conventions.
The horror in Scream is obvious to the audience; you get to see the murder taking place, the actual stabbing.
In my film, I did not use special effects or gore to scare the audience; I decided to build up a scary atmosphere instead, as I did not have access to special effects.
I used similar forms and conventions to Scream, such as having a Killer dressed in black who uses a knife to murder his victims, and having the victim be all alone without any witnesses to make the audience feel like they are the only witness.
The attacker in my film was based on the attacker in Scream, as I chose clothes that were black to make the audience automatically know that he was the bad guy.
I also had a piece of black cloth to cover over the attackers face so that you could not tell who or what he was, which left it up to the imagination of the audience.

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

I have tried to portray the victim in my film as being a young, everyday person. In Scream the victim fits into this category as well.
The clothes that I wanted the character to be dressed in were jeans, a T-shirt and a jacket, as this is what I think of as being casual dress.
I thought that by dressing my character like this would make the audience think that if an ordinary person could get attacked like this, it could happen to anybody, which is what made it scarier.
The attacker in my film was based on the attacker in Scream, as I chose clothes that were black to make the audience automatically know that he was the bad guy.
I also had a piece of black cloth to cover over the attackers face so that you could not tell who or what he was, which left it up to the imagination of the audience.

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

The media institution that I would choose to distribute my film would be Dimension films which are a subsidiary of Miramax films, as they are the company who distributed Scream.
I think that this would be a good company to use as it distributes many films similar to mine such as Halloween, Hellraiser, and the Amityville horror.

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

The classification for my film would be 15, because it contains strong violence and moderate horror.
This means that anyone below the age of 15 will not be able to view my film in a cinema, or would be able to rent or buy it on DVD.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract the audience and keep them interested in my film, I thought that it was important to make it build up from the start until the end when the attacker kills the victim.
I decided to start the background music off quietly, and make sure that there was light behind the victim as he walks into the graveyard to symbolise the fact that he is walking into a dark place.
I made the atmosphere build up, with the background sounds getting louder, and making the killer get closer to the victim.
I made the atmosphere build up to one point at the end of the film where the victim gets stabbed by the attacker.
This keeps the audience attracted because they want to find out what happens in the end.

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

During the process of constructing my media product, I have learnt a lot about how editing software works and how to put a video onto a disc.
I have also learnt how to use the Apple Mac computers, as I had never used one before.
I learnt how to add effects to my film and how to upload music to it.
Also I have learnt how to add a menu to a DVD to make it more professional.
When I did my filming, I learnt how to use a camera much more effectively,
And I learnt how to attach it to a computer and upload clips.
Also I had never used a tripod with a camera before, so it took a while to get used to.

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

My first task was very simple; I didn’t have to worry about Mise en scene.
My main task was far more complex.
I managed to get my filming done in one day, so continuity was not an issue.
For my first task I didn’t have to worry about location, but when it came to my second Artefact, I had to plan where I wanted to film, and how it would represent the horror genre.
When I did my first Artefact, the camerawork was very basic, as I did not know many different shots and angles, but when I did my second artefact I used a much wider array of camera techniques.
For the first artefact we did not have to think about codes and conventions, because we were not trying to portray a certain genre, but when doing the second artefact, I had to think about costumes, props, location, different shots and sound.
I had to make sure that my film depicted the horror genre through the Mise en scene.

I have also learnt how to make a film more interesting and more professional by adding more scenes and different camera angles instead of just having the camera follow someone everywhere.

Also I have used sound effects and video effects effectively in my second artefact whereas I did not in my first artefact.
I used sound effects that built tension, as it would help build the tension in my film up until the end. I also used a heart beat sound effect make it seem like it was the persons heart beat in my film, showing that he was scared.
I used video effects to and sound effects together to create the effect of lighting flashing on the screen during my film.

Overall, I feel that I have learnt a great amount of things during the time after filming my first artefact.
I feel that I have learnt many new techniques and ways of doing things, such as different camera angles and how to add effects using a computer.
Also with this experience I can perform these tasks with more ease, and be able to do them quicker than before, such as being able to film scenes quicker as I know exactly how to set up for filming and what everyone should be doing.