Evaluation - Question 7

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

I believe that I have learnt a lot from my preliminary task and have came a long way to succeed in my final task. Although my final task wasn't the best, it was a huge improvement to my preliminary task. First off, in my preliminary task we didn't even finish the whole task as we ran out of time, however in our main task we were able to finish the whole task, meaning we had improved on our time management skills, which was very important. Secondly, the other thing that we improved on was editing, in the preliminary task, we didn't do a very good job at editing the film, as we had no experience in it. For example at the end of the preliminary task, we had an explosion pop up. However this explosion was very bad as it didn't look realistic, which made our editing look bad. However in the main task, our editing had improved a lot. We didn't just improve our editing in general, such as adding a text in the shot and making both the scene and the text fade away after a certain time. We also wanted to have our film at night, we filmed it in the day yet added a lighting change so that it looked like it was at night. We also added a spotlight into the top left hand corner to make it look like there was a moon, making the scene look even more scary.










We had also improved massively on the camera work, we improved on the camera movements, the camera angles and how smooth the camera was so that there was no wobbly camera moments. For example;



This is a shot from our preliminary task, where we had a still shot of the school building. However, even though it was a still shot, the shot was very wobbly. Which made the video look bad, however this was okay as it was our first media task and we were inexperienced.




We then improved this later on, in our main task. As we made sure that there were no sudden camera movements that weren't supposed to be there and we made sure that the camera movement, such as pans, were very smooth. This made the video overall look better and of a higher quality.




Also, in our preliminary task, we only filmed still shots as we were afraid to move the camera in case we would mess up the shot and make the film look back. Also we didn't have the correct equipment,

if we wanted to film a pan, the best idea would have been to film it with a dolly. However, in the main task we didn't just use still shots, but used a variety of different shot as well, such as a pan and a POV shot, which built up tension in the film.

We also improved our match on match action in our main task compared to our preliminary task. In our preliminary task, we had a not so good quality match on match action shot where it was a shot of me and then a closer one of the phone and then a shot back to me. However, in our main task when we used a match on match action shot, it was of a better quality to the one in our preliminary task. This was because we had learnt from our mistakes and had improved from the first time we tried this. In our main task, when using the match on match action shot, we synchronised the voice of Harry into the next shot, this meant that he said the exact same line, which made the quality of the video better.

Evaluation - Question 6

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During our product, I have learned a lot of digital skills including different software filming techniques. One of the different software that I have learned about is After Affect. Before stating my media course, I had never done anything like this before therefore when i had to make my own film I had to learn how to edit and how to use after affects. As i didn't know how to use after affects, I had to watch a YouTube tutorial on how to make an intro for our product. 

                                                                             
I also had to learn how to edit through Premiere Pro as i didn't know how to edit. I found out how to cut the clips and put them in the places that we needed them to go in, I learned where to cut the clips to make sure that the clips weren't too long and boring and I learned how to add music and sound effects into our film by adding the music on the line below the video clip and this was used as non-diegetic sound in the film. I also found out how to render our footage and why we needed to do so. The reason why we needed to render our footage is because it's basically mixing all of our edits into a final, single continuous clip that can be shared, burned, uploaded or archived. The other thing I learned about Premiere Pro is the audio affects, to get our audio clips we had to use specific websites such as freesound.org and incompetech.com this is where we could get music and sound affects duty free.

The equipment that we used to film our media product was a camera, the camera that we used was a Sony Handycam. One of the things that I learned about the camera was that when the person that is being focused on is far away, instead of zooming the camera into that person it looks much better if you use tracking with the camera, so when you move forward with the camera. This was just one of the techniques that I learned when using the camera to film our project. When we filmed the POV part for our project, I found out that it looked much better if I made the camera move like what the person would be moving like. This was because it makes the audience feel like they are in the position of that character.

What I have learned from blogging on Blogger is that you have to use it at the start of the production as almost a diary. You have to use it daily or weekly and constantly update your posts. For example when creating our script and planning where and when to film our project for the film, we weren't too sure on the specific details, this meant that we had to keep going onto our blog and changing details and adding new details. At the start of this media assignment, I had never used Blogger before or had even wrote a blog before, this meant that I had a lot to learn about it. I had to learn how to use it in general, like how to make a new post and how to save and update my posts. I also learned how to move certain blog posts around, for example if I had a blog post from the start of the project and had to then update it later on and it would save as a recent post, I could go onto the blog and change the date of the blog so that it would go back to an old blog, this meant that my blog was more updated and looked more professional.

February Feedback

Your web-log looks like it needs some gaps filling in.  Ensure that creative technologies have been used to present your evaluation. Please do this over half-term.

Complete the evaluation

Put the preliminary task and your production as last posts then the questions

Add any extra elements to the research and planning.

Set targets for what you need to do over half-term to fully complete the coursework

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

In our film we have kept our storyline pretty simple and have made sure that it is not complex. We did this because it means that the audience will find it easier to follow the story, therefore it won't be confusing to them. By doing this hopefully means that more of the audience will like the film. An example of a confusing film would be the film 'Seven', this is a film where it's hard to follow and doesn't really make much sense until the end. Although are film isn't confusing, we do have an enigma in our opening scene. This is a really good way to attract an audience to a film as it leaves the audience on sort of a cliff hanger, it builds up tension and it will make the audience want to watch the rest of the film to see what happens.

We were also hoping that the fact that we had two genres in one film would also attract more of our audience, as it will attract the audiences that like horror films such as 'Paranormal Activity' and it will also attract audiences that like thriller films such as 'Taken'. By doing a hybrid genre I believe that it will fill the needs of both types of audiences, therefore increase the amount of people that will watch our film. We also had our storyline similar to other horror/thriller films, such as 'Kill Bill Volume 1' and 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', the similarities were that they are both about revenge, just like our film. By doing this will hopefully mean that our film will attract audiences that like the films Kill Bill and A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We made a film in the horror/thriller genre and targeted the film towards teenagers and young adults. This is because the typical audience for horror/thriller is proven to be between the age of 15-25. As our film is a hybrid genre, we have a primary audience and a secondary audience, our primary audience is males aged 15-25, this is because we believe that males are more likely to go and see our film as it is a gory film with multiple conventions of horror such as blood and knifes. The secondary audience for our film is young couples, this is because young couples are more likely to go and see a horror/thriller film than an older couple. People that want to see our film will like horror films, this means that they don't want to see a film with childish humour for example Step Brothers or the Inbetweeners Movie. They will want to see a film including conventions of horror such as jump scares, killing and blood and guts.

I did some research into similar films of ours, examples of one is 'Child's Play' which is about a serial killer doll. The types of people that watched that film are people aged between 25 and 39, this is different to our as our film is more of a thriller/horror than just a horror. The people that did the research into the audience of Child's Play found out that the audiences favourite dishes are hot dogs, french fries and banana milkshakes. They also found out that in their spare time, they like to listen to live music, play video games and write. Some of the most favorite movies that the audience of Child's Play like are 'Hellraiser', 'It', 'Insidious', 'Saw' and 'Halloween'. As these are all horror films, it shows us that the type of people that watch Child's Play also like other horror films. Which means that we have to advertise our film to people that like other thriller/horror such as 'World War Z'.

This table above shows us the types of films that children at the age of 7 to 14 watched in 2013. The types of films that they watched were childish films like 'Monsters University' this is because they won't want to see scary films and would rather watch an uplifting film with no suspense. These genres are the complete opposite genre of film to ours, a horror/thriller this shows us that our audience for our film is not of the age of 7 to 14.

However, with the audience being of an age of 15 to 24 there are less childish films being seen and more horror films and thriller films in the top list. Also there are not as many horror/thriller films in the older category as well, this means that the age limit of 15 to 24 is the perfect audience for our film.


With our main character being a boy, we would hope that this means that it will attract an audience of males. This might be because they might be able to relate to what is happening to the young boy in the film. By this happening, it could mean that the majority of our audience could be male. We do know that the majority of people that watch thriller films are male, for example in the 'BFI Statistical Yearbook' it tells us that 69% of people that went to see 'Captain Phillips' were male and the other 31% were female. This was also the same result for 'Star Trek Into Darkness'. This proves that most males would prefer to see thriller films than childish, 'girly' films such as 'One Direction: This Is Us'. Only 15% of people that went to see that film we male and the other 85% were female. Although the majority of our audience for our film will probably be male, we would also like to see a high percentage of females watching our film, this is because it then widens the range of audiences for our film.

Evaluation - Question 3

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

As our production company (Soulplex Productions) are doing a horror/thriller film, I believe that the best media institution that would be suitable for us would be Warner Brothers. I believe that this would be the best film production company for our film as they have produced multiple good quality horror/thriller films such as 'The Shining', 'The Exorcist' and 'I Am Legend' which is more of a thriller film than a horror. The reason why we would like to work with Warner Brothers is because they have produced very good films in the past that have made a lot of money, therefore our film is more likely to be a successful film if we work with Warner Brothers. Also, as Warner Brothers are a huge institution in America and that they are one of the most popular film institutions in the world, it means that by working with them our film will be a very popular film that audiences will want to watch just because it is produced by Warner Brothers. Unlike if we were to work with a smaller film company such as Working Title Films who are a small British film company, this is because they have a smaller audience than companies such as Warner Brothers, therefore our film wouldn't be as successful if we chose to work with them.

The film 'I Am Legend' is a very successful film produced by Warner Brothers. It is a very original and unique film and I believe that that is why it was a very successful film. Although we used multiple conventions of horror, we also made sure that our film was original and wasn't like a typical horror film. 

I Am Legend - 

Budget: $150 million

USA: $256,393,010   43.8%

Foreign Countries: $328,956,000   56.2%

Worldwide Income: $585,349,010

These are just some of the awards that 'I Am Legend' has been nominated for and won.

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards 2008

Won ASCAP Award

Top Box Office Films James Newton Howard

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2008

Won Saturn Award	Best Actor Will Smith
Nominated Saturn Award	Best Science Fiction Film

Fright Meter Awards 2007

Nominated Fright Meter Award

Best Actor Will Smith

Golden Trailer Awards 2008

Won Golden Trailer	Best Horror
	Best Sound Editing
Nominated Golden Trailer	Best Thriller TV Spot For "One".
	Most Original TV Spot For "Quarentine".
	Best Wildposts For "Outdoor Series".

Image Awards 2008

Nominated Image Award	Outstanding Motion Picture
	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Will Smith

MTV Movie Awards 2008

Won MTV Movie Award	Best Male Performance Will Smith
Nominated MTV Movie Award	Best Movie

MTV Movie Awards, Russia 2009

Won MTV Movie Award

Best International Movie

Other than these awards, I Am Legend has also won multiple other awards and have been nominated for even more. These awards show that the film has been very successful, which gives Warner Brothers a big reward, as they will be getting a lot of money and a lot more fans and will become a lot more popular. Meaning that if we chose to work with Warner Brothers, our film will also be very successful and popular and would have a better chance of winning awards, just like I Am Legend.

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our film, we see a lot of young characters, this is because the main 'villain' in the film is a young school boy and most of the victims are also young school boys. With the characters being high school students that are going through their GCSE's, some of the audience could relate to this as everybody doing their GCSE's feels stressed and they would be able to relate to some of the main characters. They might also be able to relate to the fact that 'Billy's' parents have got a divorce and that some of the audience members will also probably be experiencing the same problems. Also, the majority of the characters and the main characters are male, this means that it will attract a large group of male teenagers to young adults. Although the film has a lot of powerful male characters in it, we will also have a strong female in the film to attract a female audience, even though in a typical horror, women aren't supposed to be powerful characters.

Also, the class and status of the character we can see in the opening sequence is of a middle/working class family. He isn't dressed in wealthy clothes like in the film 'The Riot Club' which is a film about a group of 'posh' friends. However, he ins't dressed in poor looking clothes like in the film 'Oliver' where the characters weir very dirty, tatty clothes. He is dressed like the average middle class high school student. By doing this, it will attract middle/working class families and individuals to watch the film, as they will be able to relate to how the characters lives their life.