Evaluation

Question 1

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




We have taken alot of inspiration from the film Hostel. The Picture on the left is a frame from our product and the picture on the right is from the film Hostel. As you can see they are very simular; they have rusty, sharp and old tools, even including a chainsaw. This adds a very dark atmosphere to our product.

Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 2 on Prezi

Question 3

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

nfgsmedia - wikispaces

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The ideal audience member who would watch our film is male 24 years old, lower class, and lives in Liverpool in a flat with his girlfriend. His name is Carl Davis and is a mechanic at his local garage with a weekday shifts from 7:45Aam to 6:15pm and Saturday 8:00am-12:30pm. After a long days work, Carl loves to relax with a cup of tea and a movie or Xbox. He prefers the action, thriller and horror movies such as; Die Hard, Saw, Hostel and the Dark Knight to the rest as he finds them interesting and intense to watch, with the same moral for his Xbox games; he like the action packed games like Call of Duty and Hitman and also rally driving games as these keep him thoroughly entertained.

He also quite likes to socialize, he likes going out with his mates on a Friday or Saturday night, or even just playing his night away with them on Xbox Live. One of his favourite hobbies is Go-Karting. Carl loves to Go-Kart occasionally as he feels he can just let himself free on the track, hence the fact one of his favourite games is rally driving games. Carl spends allot of his money on his girlfriend (excluding the money set aside for the bills) as he really tries to make her happy and shows her that he cares for her. Religion isn’t really Carl’s thing as he’s never really understood the ethics of religion and just never really took it upon himself to consider it.

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

First of all we set out with a questionnaire and got information on what the audience would want to see in the film. Then, we included most of the results in our film to address our audience.

(Blue speech bubbles on our video)

Question 6

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


The programs which I learned how to use in the production are; Live Type, Photoshop and most of all, Final Cut Express.

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





(red speach bubbles)

Evaluation

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

This is where we used forms and conventions in our product:

This is a key frame from the movie Hostel                     This is our key frame, from our product

The film hostel is similar to ours as is shown in the key frames, and this is how we've used forms and conventions. We've used similar props, and a similar camera angle.

This is where we developed the forms and conventions:

This is another key frame from Hostel                             This is a key frame from our film Viewpoint

Here is another key frame from the film hostel, where we have developed the forms and conventions, in hostels frame there is a man tied to a chair, whereas in our Thriller there is a man tied down to a table.

This is where we challenged the forms and conventions:

This is the soundtrack from the film Psycho (1960)

This is the soundtrack from our final project

This is where we've challenged the forms and conventions of a Thriller, in the soundtrack for Psycho the music is faster, and uses string instruments, whereas ours uses a more of a electronically driven feel.

Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representaion of social groups on Prezi

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

http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Iris

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our Thirller film is similar to those of Hostel, or the Saw franchise. Films like this are aimed at a particular audience, and i hav characterised the type of person that would watch our film: He is a male, as our reseach has showen that males are more likely to watch and enjoy Thiller films, than females. He is called Eliot Craig, as this name is individual, yet it wouldn't be un common or suprising to find, he is of a middle class background and lives in Leeds. He goes to Leeds university and is studying engineering, he lives there with his long-term girlfriend, and as they spend alot of time together he finds she can get quite annoying, and he needs some time alone, and as she doesn't enjoy watching Thriller films, he uses them as a form of escapism. His interests are mechanics, which would justify him studying engineering at university, his hobbies include playing Xbox, and watching films, on Blu-ray and HD, his favourate films are 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Inception' as they both require you to think about the story rather than just watch it. He also likes reading Thriller Books such as: 'Da Vinci Code', 'The Silence of the Lambs' and 'And Then There Was None'

He prefers to go to Blockbuster cinemas rather that Art House cinemas, however he enjoys watching small budgets films, because the rely on more of a 'make you think' story line, rather than just using special effects. He likes to use film fan sites to find out information about films and enter there competitions, and he hope to one day win one of these competitions. He spends a lot of his money on entertainment, like DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, rather than clothes like alot of other university students would do. He likes to listen to Rock music, and his favourate bands include the Killers, Nickelback, and Black Stone Cherry. He enjoys going to festivals, and going out with his friends. He was raised a Christian, however he lost this as he grew up, he votrs for the concervative party, however he is slightly drawn to the Liberal Democrats.

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

(red speach bubbles)

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From constructing the production i have learnt a lot about different technologies, both online and offline. I have learnt how to use a 'Cannon Legria HFR106' camera, with an without a tri-pod. I have also learnt to use programs on the computer such as photoshop, to make our Iris Entertainment logo, prezzi to create a presentation for the blog, blogger, and most of all final cut express, in which i learnt to edit, and use effects for the product. I have also learnt how to use different lighting, which was a key element in getting the mood for our Thriller.

This is me using the camera

This is me using the camera with the tri-pod

This is me using programs such as blogger and final cut

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

(red speach bubbles)

Progress Report 3

PROGRESS REPORT 3

We have now completed our filming and editing, I am happy and satisfied with the way the film has turned out. When we came to editing our final product we realised that we should have used a tripod instead of a steady hand cam as a few bits of our film were shaky. We then re-filmed bits of our thriller as we thought it would have made it look more professional.

I need to make sure that I have completely finished my evaluation before the 18^th of March as that is when the blogs are shut down.  

Progress Report 2

PROGRESS REPORT 2

This is my second progress report, the last report I did was way back in November, in that report it said how to work on my courswork, it said how I should do more individual posts on thriller research.

Since then I have done more individual research and also I have learnt how to use new programmes that will help me improve our final product. The programmes such as Final cut express and Photo shop will help me edit our final product when it comes to it.

In order to help improve my final coursework grade, I need to continue posting individually as well as in a group, also I need to make sure our final product is up to a high standard.

Evaluation

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


Where our media product has used the conventions of a real media product:

The first frame shows tools which are used as dangerous weaponry in the film 'Hostel'. This implies to the audience what may be done to a possible victim or to let them know that something violent is about to happen or has happened.

We have used this by implying to our audience that these tools have been used in the previous frame where a body is seen on a table covered in blood. Also this shows our audience that the killer is dangerous and deranged. Also we follow the theme used in thrillers such as torture. Even though we do not show any kind of torture scene this is dramatically implied to the audience through the use of Mise en scene with the fake blood, dead body and the use of dangerous weapons such as tools. 

 Where our media product has developed the conventions of a real media product:

The first frame is taken from the film 'Hostel' where the themes of crime, kidnapping and isolation which also play on practical fears of society. This adds to the realism as well as making the audience think this could happen and what might happen next is kept a mystery. In this frame the audience can see who has been kidnapped while still wondering how he got there and why. 

 This is a frame from our film where we have developed the conventions as we have kept the victims identity a secret. Which will in turn make the audience wonder who he is and why he got murdered. This adds to the mystery aspect of our film as well as showing the audience that this is a crime based mystery thriller.

Where our media product has challenged the conventions of a real media product:

This is the soundtrack to the film "Psycho". The soundtrack to this film uses more convention means of sound such as a piano which plays on the classical suspense of the music. Also this music was recorded in the 1970's. It uses a higher tone which is convention of normal thriller soundtracks or suspense music.

This is the soundtrack to the film "Psycho".


However in our film we have used a non classical electro style music soundtrack. This adds to the modern aspect of our film. Instead of a high toned soundtrack we used an alternative low tone in our film. Additionally the music we used for our film worked as we were able to place it just as we were zooming into the killers face on a CCTV image. This makes him look more mysterious as he is being backed by the music. The music being fast paced which emphasizes the contrast between the killer performing his actions slowly and carelessly. However the music plays an important rule as it can express the feelings of the killer as rushed, cautious and nervous.

This is our film. Soundtrack begins at 24 seconds.


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

Representation of a particular social group on Prezi

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

http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Iris

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

Morton Bikes is a 25 year old male. Morton lives by himself in a 2 bedroom flat in Harlow, Essex. 

He lives close to his work so that he does not have far to travel as he hates using his car but loves riding on his motorcycle on sunny days. He also lives close to his mother who he finds it hard to separate from as he finds it easy to talk to her. 

He enjoys watching the latest thriller and horror movies on his high tech TV. He also enjoys a select range of music which focuses on the rock and metal genre. He enjoys listening to bands just as Motor head, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. He has also been to see Motor head in concert at the Hammer smith Apollo arena. He thoroughly enjoys learning new things such as the mechanics for all his favourite motor cycles which wants to buy. He is working class and works in a automotive repair shop where he works a 7 hour shift where he cannot wait to get home to relax and grab the latest releases on Blue-ray. He has all the top of the line gadgets such as his Xbox 360, Blue-ray player and a 3D TV so that he will be able to watch his favourite horrors in the spectacular 3D. He did not go to university as he left school and went into the RAF to further gain qualifications in mechanics.  

His forms of escapism lie in his technology if it's a new piece of hardware for his high tech computer, his Xbox so that he can play with his friends online also thriller films. Thriller films give him the escapism he needs from his mother, work and other responsibilities. This allows himself to escape all his present problems and finally switch off. Some of his favourite films are "Psycho", "Memento", "Se7en" and "Rear window". Morton rarely reads books that his peers enjoy. He enjoys reading crime thriller books as this also helps his mind to escape from reality and think about just the story. He enjoys reading "The likeness", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" as well as the more classic "Da Vinci Code".  

Morton prefers the late night visits to the cinema as he believes it adds to the atmosphere of the film. He favours seeing blockbuster movies rather than art house as he enjoys the use of more technology and effects in blockbusters. 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?






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

As you can see this is me beginning to use and learn about how to use the steady cam. Over the course of making the film I have learnt how to use the camera by being able to keep it steady and displaying what we had filmed.  as well as logging and transferring images and video via final cut, photoshop and Iphoto. 

This is me learning to use the programme Prezi. At first I found using Prezi difficult but now I am able to  put pathways into my work as well as uploading images. This is through the use of the tutorial guide that is on the website. Also I did not know how to upload my Prezi's onto blogger but through asking the other members of the group I can now upload them by putting the embedding code into blogger.

This is me using final cut. I was very unsure how to work it at first but I soon researched how to use it through youtube and other sources and now I am able to use it happily. The log and transfer feature which at first I was unsure how to use but now I can log and transfer easily as well as use effects such as saturation and the colour corrector. 

 Using Youtube was familiar to me when looking at videos and research how to use different programmes. However for uploading videos I was unsure on what to do mainly because I do not have a personal account. However now through asking the members of the group I can now successfully upload, annotate and tag videos.

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

Prezi online tutorial

Prezi online tutorial

Like Photoshop I struggled to use Prezi at first, I watched a few simple starter clips on youtube and then I chose to use the online tutorial to help me out, this showed me all of the basics such as how to create a presentation and how to change the font sizes and types of fonts.

http://prezi.com/learn/getting-started/

The link above is the online tutorial I used.

Evaluation

EVALUATION

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

First two frames, Conventions of real media products

Here are the first two frames that we have chosen to use; the two sets of frames are similar in the way that they use the convention of blood that thrillers often use. The image from our thriller shows the character wearing an apron with blood stains, the bloody prop works well in our thriller as it helps draw the audience in and it also helps establish the character. The other image from the thriller ‘Se7en’ shows a similar image, the character also has blood splashed up onto his clothes, this also implies that someone may have been murdered brutally. The choice of costumes that the characters wear works in the thrillers as it also helps establish the characters.

Here is another pair of images that reflect a thriller convention, the two scenes are both set in warehouses, this is similar to the convention mise en scene with echoes, this means that the characters have been placed in the certain place because it is relevant to how the character is feeling. In this example the characters are both in dark, old, used warehouses, this reflects the characters mood and tells the audience that maybe the character may be sad, scared or confused about something in particular. The first image is taken from ‘Law abiding citizen’, this shows the main character in a dark room. Similar to the second image take from our film.

Second pair of frames, Developed conventions of thrillers
Below are the two images we have chosen to show the development of conventions such as blood in thrillers. The first image that is from the 1960’s film ‘Psycho’ shows blood being washed down the plug hole, this helps attract the audience, the mise en scene in the use of the plug hole implies it is the end of someone and they are being washed away. The second image taken from our thriller is similar to the one from ‘Psycho’ as it also involves blood being washed away down the sink.

Our image in this frame shows that we have developed the convention of crime in thrillers, we have used the crime; murder and then developed it using a sort of ‘torture table’ The torture table with a body on it, will help get the attention of the audience, the table implies that the victim may have been tortured previously to the murder. This may lead the audience onto thinking about different things that may have happened in the film. Our image is very similar to an image taken from the real media product ‘Hostel.

Third pair of frames that challenge the conventions of thrillers

The background music on our thriller is called ‘Cautious pathway’. Our thriller is very similar to most thrillers as there is not many times when we challenge the conventions of thrillers however our music is distinctly different to most thrillers. Below is the music from the thriller ‘Psycho’ if you listen to this music and then watch our video (from 0.25secs in) and listen to our music it is different as we have challenged that convention of the typical music for thrillers.

QUESTION TWO
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
This is my online prezi presentation, it shows a representation of social groups that feature in our thriller opening, i found it difficult to first use prezi, so i watched the online tutorial.

Product representation of social groups on Prezi

QUESTION THREE
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Below is the link for our media wiki presentation, on this presentation it tells us what type of film it is, and how this affects the distributers. The presentation also says what themes our thriller covers and what thriller conventions are used in it. It also says why the film would be released and how it offers opportunities for franchises, sequels or merchandising.
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Iris


QUESTION FOUR
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our film can be related to the likes of   other films such as the Saw collection but most of all it is particularly like the film hostel. These films are usually aimed at a specific audience. The type of person that would watch out film would be along the same lines.

The perfect audience member for our thriller opening would definitely be a male; as we have researched and found out in our thriller research before producing the film that the majority of audiences for thrillers are males. The name Eliot Craig seems to suit the profile we are aiming our film at as it is a quite an individual and distinct name. He would not be a rich character and would be in his early 20’s, once again we have chosen to use this age as our research showed us that the majority of the audiences for thrillers was around this age. Eliot would have many hobbies that may be seen as different to the average 20 year old, his hobbies could also be seen as ‘geeky’. He shows interests in things such as mechanics. Hence why he is studying engineering at university in Leeds. Leeds is an appropriate location for him as it is an industrial area as he has particular interests in that.

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/coursefinder/17731/MEng,_BEng_Electronic_Engineering
Above is the prospectus for the Electronic Engineering course at Leeds university.

Eliot lives with his long-term girlfriend, as he has been with her over a long period time he obviously likes to escape, with the use of thriller films he is able to fall back onto them when he wants to get away, especially since his girlfriend is not interested in them. His all time favourite films are ‘Silence of the lambs’ and also ‘Law abiding citizen’ these films have a mixture of crime, action and suspense. Along with watching films his hobbies are reading, Xbox and technology. Eliot is up to date with most of the latest technology, he is particularly fond of his HD television along with his blue-ray DVD player, however if he had enough money he would definitely invest into a 3D television. Another form of escapism he uses is when he plays the Xbox when he wants to get away, he plays along with friends with the online feature that Xboxes provide.

 
When Eliot is able to get away from his university studies and is on holiday in places such as Southwold in England, he is able to read novels such as ‘Da Vinci Code’, ‘And then there was none’ and ‘The silence of The Lambs’. Eliot was brought up by both of his parents with a religious, Christian background, however his religious beliefs have disappeared since he has grown up. He votes for the conservative party. When he is able to get away he prefers to see blockbuster films over art house films, he likes to see films on nights at cinemas such as ‘cheap students Tuesdays’. He is a regular participator in online competitions on film websites, hoping one day he will win.

Unlike the average 20 year old at Uni that may spend their money on mostly clothes and drugs Eliot enjoys spending his money on the latest Blue ray DVDs and CD’s. He is interested in rock/metal music. He has previously been to the metal festival ‘Reading’. His favourite bands consist of ‘Joy division’ and ‘The Killers’.

  

Below is the link for the ‘Reading festival’ website, the bands that are presented on the website are the sort of bands that Eliot would be interested in.

http://www.readingfestival.com/

QUESTION FIVE 
How did you attract/address your audience?
This is our final film product with some annotations, the annotations show us why we chose to use certain props and mise en scene. The annoatations also say what parts would appeal to the audience and attract them. In our thriller we used different thriller conventions that we had researched previously to making the film. Our film also uses supense through out the opening scene, this helps set the scene of the film and also helps draw the audience in.

QUESTION SIX
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The first image is a shot of me using the camera we used to film our final product, I am filming by just using my hands, when we filmed our film we did not use a tripod and filmed it with a steady hand effect. The camera has many buttons and different filming options on it, after research and playing around with the camera I finally learnt how to use it to its full effect. 

 

We should have filmed our final product using the tripod that I am using in the image below. The tripod enables the camera to stay completely still, this helps prevent filming from being shaky.

 

In the image below it shows me using our blog, on our blog we have had to post many posts throughout the year reporting on how our filming is doing etc, also on the blog it has many posts on research.

In the final image, I am seen working on final cut express, we used final cut express frequently to edit our final product and preliminary task. At first I struggled to use final cut express but after watching various video clips and tutorials online I have learnt how to use it effectively.

 

Above is the tutorial that I first watched, to help me learn how to use final cut express, I knew I had to know how to use it because it was important when we edited our final product.

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

Below is our preliminary task that we have annotated it using youtube, the annotations show what we think we did well and what we had improved on to create our final product. For example in our preliminary task we learnt how to edit out non-digetic sounds in the background that was we did not need. Also when we filmed our preliminary we had a shot a scene that had our tripod in the background, we made sure when we filmed our final product we had made sure we had no objects such as tripods in the background.