Construction- Final Draft

E7: What do I feel I have learned from my preliminary task to the full product?

September 2016


April 2017

The above is a nine frame rundown of my preliminary task and below it is nine frames from my opening sequence. Most obviously, there is more variety and colour in the opening sequence as I used a better quality camera and natural lighting instead of the school lighting. In editing, I added filters to add atmosphere, which I didn't do in my prelim as there wasn't a need for a thriller atmosphere because it was an everyday encounter. In terms of camerawork, I was pretty much a novice at using cameras and tripods at the beginning of the year so the shots are very limited: I used static or tracking shots the whole time, with no change of angles- in the opening sequence I had had more practice with cameras and as a result I could include different angles like the low angle taken from the ground (see bottom left) or the high angle establishing shot I used a drone for (middle). I also used handheld cameras more in my opening sequence for a tension-building and immersing effect, for example in the bottom right shot where I ran behind Abbi for an over-the-shoulder shot. In my prelim, I also used a lot of match-on-action and shot-reverse shot, but as there is only ever one person in the shot at a time in the opening sequence I struggled to include shot-reverse shot and the 180-degree rule- which I did break once or twice in the prelim because of inexperience. My prelim has very limited narrative as it only consists of two classmates talking and entering/leaving a room; compared to my opening sequence which holds a lot of narrative hints as it is elusive as to why she is running away, who she was kidnapped by and the reasons behind it- also the cliffhanger of the kidnapper noticing she has escaped and whether he will get her back or not. This development was because I had more time in research and planning for my opening sequence, and my prelim was very rushed and improvised. I feel I've learned a lot and seeing the differences between the two makes it clear how much I've progressed since September, in terms of narrative and complexity as well as professionalism and editing.

E6: What have I learned about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

In this video I (attempted) to evaluate question 6 about the digital technologies I've learned about from constructing the final product. I struggled to say everything I wanted to in 3 minutes, so here is a more detailed rundown of what I actually learnt about the technologies I mention in the video:

Blogger: I uploaded a lot of photos to my blog to start off with, and I learned that I needed high quality photos in order for them to look more aesthetically pleasing on my blog, as they had to be set at the largest size setting. I also used a few Prezis to make my blog more interactive and fun, so I had to find out how to embed these into my blog and also learn how to actually use Prezi to my advantage in the first place, i.e what information I could display through these and what went better as another format.

Camera and equipment: I was not great at camerawork when I started the course, and tripods scared me with how complicated they looked. It turns out tripods are pretty easy to set up but I had to learn how to do that and also how to use the lever to make a tracking shot. The Lumix camera I used cut off the shot as soon as I pressed the shutter, so I learnt to leave a few seconds before and after the action so I had more footage to work with when editing. 

Drone: The drone was an extra asset in filming, I got really professional footage from it and also had a lot of fun, but it took a lot of learning and trial shots to get the material I wanted. I also had to look up how and when I could use the drone because of local laws and safety laws.

iPhone: I have an iPhone and use it every day, but filming and editing on it was quite new to me so I had to follow a few tutorials and help pages about iMovie to learn how to use it efficiently for the actual opening sequence. I also learned that the sound recording quality on iPhones is better than the camera I used, so I recorded Foley sound of the character breathing and her footsteps as another option to use in post-production.

YouTube: I've never uploaded a video to YouTube before starting the course, so I had to make a channel and read up on how to upload a video correctly before I did. Over my planning and research and mainly construction, I made a few vlogs and extra videos, so by the time I'd made the final production I knew exactly what I was doing. Copyright is something YouTube takes very seriously which I learned with my first vlog, where I tried to add a song in the background but had to change to copyright-free music before it would allow me to upload.

E5: How did I attract/address the audience?

A typical member of our audience would be aged 15-25, female, interested in missing person/thriller films and in particular, films with an intriguing plot.

I addressed my audience in the BBFC age rating for my film (15). Following the guidelines of real films, I decided this was the best age rating based on the content and themes of my film, and this shapes the audience as only teenagers 15 and up would come to watch it. I also cast actors of this age range, so that the audience can identify and relate to the characters on a better level than if they were much older. I addressed my target audience by making it clear who I was aiming at through use of casting and subject matter.

I attracted the audience of people interested in the particular genre of film by conforming to specific conventions and codes. For example, I built suspense in the opening sequence as well as creating a dark atmosphere, whilst also leaving plot clues. These are common conventions of thriller opening sequences, such as Girl, Interrupted. I created tension by using dramatic music in the background, and used the fast paced beat of the character's footsteps to build it up. The dark atmosphere was created by a combination of the sunset natural lighting I used, and a filter I added in post-production. Using commonly seen codes is appealing to my audience because viewers recognise and enjoy the style of film because they are familiar with it, therefore they are attracted and will want to watch the film.

I asked a small focus group what they liked most about the film, and here were some of their responses:

"I liked the use of makeup as it was effective in making me think about what could have happened to the character."

"The fast pace of the sequence made me want to continue watching."

"The music captured and maintained my attention."

"The flashes of the corkboard gave clues to the plot which helped it make sense."

From the responses, I think I effectively captured my audience through the mise-en-scene of makeup and sound but also through narrative clues throughtout the sequence. If I could do this more effectively, I think I'd make the cuts to the police board more frequent and consistent, but also make it look more like an actual police board by using a white board and red string instead of the props I had, which make it look quite amateur. However, I think the mise-en-scene was otherwise very effective in attracting my audience and creating an intriguing sequence which draws the viewers in.

E4: Who would be the audience for my opening sequence?

E3: What kind of media institution may distribute my media product and why?

Evaluation Question Three from Britney Butterfield

For more information on my chosen institutions, see this blog post from my research.

E2: How does my opening sequence represent particular social groups?