Evaluation Question 7: Preliminary Reflections

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the main task? 
We thought that answering this with a video would be easier,

Evaluation Question 6: Technology & Construction Process

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of making this product?

Cameras, Tripods, and Premier Pro, oh my!

Since the start of production. It has been apparent to me that my skills and abilities to use different tools and equipment have grown and developed over time.

Planning:
Firstly, my ability to plan for productions has definitely improved, storyboarding, script/screenplay writing, and shotlisting are all really usedful and some were new to me, however I am now able to use and create all 4 of these things.

Production:
This is where technology was used the most, learning how to use the DSLR cameras and getting comfortable with them was a key aspect to the production. Since starting to use them, I have learned how to change lenses on the cameras for a longer or shorter range shot. As well as changing the DSLR's settings to produce a different effect or type of shot and becoming comfortable with the user interface on the cameras.

We also used tripods whilst in production, which was useful as it allowed us to have steady shots and improved the quality of our production greatly.

There were times during production where we considered using a shoulder mount, however it was decided that handicam was better as it suited the effect of a thriller and worked with conventions of the genre in a more effective way. For example, when I walk through the marketplace and use my phone, Mitchel was walking in front of me holding the camera.

Post-Production:
Considered to be "where the magic happens", I haven't really had much recent practise in Premier Pro, however you can see my sound-changing task as evidence that I can alter and edit sound in videos, and you can also see the same video to show that I can use titling and video cutting too. Whereas at the beginning of the production process, I only had light experience in those areas from my personal YouTube channel, which was done using a different software (PowerDirector) that I bought for my phone.

Evaluation Questions 4/5: Audience and Audience Attraction/Marketing.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
We decided to answer these two questions in a video.

Evaluation Question 3: Institution and Distribution.

3) What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

In my post about how we may market the film, I mention that we'd use Sony Distribustion in order to get our production to people. I did however note that as Through the Glass will be a small budget film, made by companies working in synergy with one another, then Sony (being a large company) may not take the job of distributing our production due to the high risk of failure to produce a profitable sum of money at the box office.

Therefore, I believe that a relitively smaller company such as Channel 4 distribution would better suit the task. This is also beneficial as it is easily accessible through Film 4, who are one of the companies involved in production.

Films such as Trainspotting 1 have used Channel 4 distribution to do this and then, after becoming a successful hit, have moved up to companies such as Sony Distribution, who took the job as the success of Trainspotting 1 meant that T2 Trainspotting was much less of a risk.

Evaluation Question 2: Representation of Social Groups.

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

In our thriller opening, there isn't much in terms of diversity, the three main characters are white, male teenagers. As well as them being from England. There is obviously a lack of diversity in race, gender and age here, meaning that our production can only represent that one group.

I believe that race and gender isn't too much of an issue/topic here. As the opening that we made shows nothing that is unusual or typical for the area we filmed in. Not that there is a racial or gender-related divide between the population, just that it is usual to see things as they are in the production.

Through the Glass, however, has a fair amount to talk about in concerns to age. Our three protagonists meet up in town and walk round together which is fairly normal for regular teenagers. However, they decide to go into an antique shop, which teenagers don't tend to do. This obviously subverts dominant ideologies about teenagers and how they like to go to places that would be considered fun or exciting.

Evaluation Question 1: Forms and Conventions.

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

Our thriller is a combination of a sub-genre of the thriller genre (supernatural) and a completely different genre all together (comedy). This challenges the regular conventions of thriller films as it is rare for thrillers to contain funny parts as well as their regular 'seriousness'.This makes our thriller unique and different to other thriller films that have recently been released as well as upcoming and many past thriller films (especially in the supernatural sub-genre) which could attract a wider audience to come and watch it than it could have before as it is unorthodox compared to other films.

The protagonist is often a brave male who seeks to restore order to the world (or whatever setting they may be in, a city, country etc). In our thriller, the protagonists have no idea about what will happen to them or that they are going to be in danger when they enter the antique shop in the intro. They are regular teenagers who are going about their daily lives as normal until they go into the shop. They aren't really portrayed as brave at any point in the film nor are they connoted to be in any way, therefore challenging conventions of thriller films as the protagonist is normally shown to be brave or heroic early on in the film (for example the character is a police officer, connoting bravery straight away as soon ass they are seen by the audience due to their uniform and mise-en-scene of a badge and gun).

The Antagonist will have a secret identity that the audience may know but the main characters/ protagonist(s) wont be aware of, but will have met the protagonist(s) at some point which has fueled his need to go after the protagonist(s) to begin with. Our thriller uses this convention here as the antagonist is a ghost and the three characters have no idea who's ghost it is or what its motives/goals are.

The audience should already expect the film to be scary in some way or another because of trailers advertisement showing clips of the film. It's important to ensure that the comedy factor is not to be overused throughout the thriller however, as it will dismantle any suspense we try to build, which is not good and will spoil the film.

Suspense is essential to the thriller genre. Providing the viewer a feeling of fascination and excitement mixed with anticipation and tension.
The audience connect with the characters in different ways according to their own unique personalitites and attributes. This could make them feel more enraveled in the story.

It is entirely possible that we could have done more extensive research into how other supernatural thrillers are presented and made. Although Mitchell was inspired by the movie "The Eye" to take on the idea of the glasses. It would have made our thriller more accurate and better presented to have looked at other films that have already been made that cross comedy and horror. A film franchise that represents this is the "Scary Movie" franchise, and although these are more on the comedy side, they include themes and references to supernatural thriller films and use conventions of thriller films.

Marketing for 'Through the Glass'

Through the Glass, Our Marketing Campaign:

Production Companies: Film 4, Creative Scotland, Cloud Eight Films and DNA films.

Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing

Our main goal here is to use as many modern-age marketing strategies as possible to provide a higher chance of appealing to a teenage audience.

We believe that an appropriate budget for the marketing would be £1.2 Million. This will help cover for the following:

Social Media Advertising¦£200,000: Social Media marketing will be the most beneficial and effective form of advertising for us and our production, this is because our target audience is set to be predominantly teenagers. The supernatural comedy thriller will be able to reach our audience through sponsored videos, these will include details on the production's release date and perhaps feature some famous actors in to portray star power to attract more of an audience. Furthermore, we will use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to post videos that are set in promoted posts on those sites as well as maybe a Snapchat filter which could put the glasses on and and then makes the ghost appear behind the user.

Outdoor Promotion¦£300,000: Having the opportunity to advertise our thriller in the public will shine lots more light on the film, making peer to peer marketing increase. This will not only hit the teenage audience but let everyone know about to it since it’s in full exposure, so this may be the best method of marketing by tradition. This will range from movie posters at cinemas, at petrol stations, on public noticeboards/ billboards and other various areas that are visible to people during their regular routines/ frequencies of activity.

Television adverts (as well as pre-video trailers on sites like YouTube)¦£250,000: Perhaps £150,000 on TV and £100,000 on YouTube. Over marketing the trailer on YouTube may become a nuisance, and will turn people off, so we will offer YouTube £100,000 and let them advertise with the money we offer for some period of time. This will ultimately hit all audiences on TV and teenagers on YouTube, an alternative option is to ask that YouTube uses an algorithm to show the advert before videos that contain similar content (i.e comedy, supernatural themes etc).

Promocodes on Beverages¦£100,000: By marketing in this way, we’ll be able to target teenagers directly who tend to purchase fizzy drinks and food for example proficiently. Promotion codes featuring 10% off cinema tickets or, free pass on Now TV for example.

Magazine/Newspaper Adverts¦£150: Although this isn’t directly at teeagers, parents may suggest this film to their teenage children if they see it. This further develops the idea of peer to peer marketing which is the best method of Marketing. These don’t need to be much, just a small section on a page discussing a potential synopsis of the film and a few early reviews from other broadcasting companies.

Equivalent Amounts: 20% on Social Media, 30% on Outdoor Promotion, 25% on Television Adverts, 10% on Promocodes and 15% on Magazine/Newspaper adverts.

These new marketing strategies push cross-media convergence, this is because it’s being advertised on multiple platforms for the highest level of exposure possible. Moreover, synergy will be evident here and multiple stores will stock products with 'promocodes', and also social media sites will have the film being advertised. Ultimately, these companies will be having an unintentional synergy in supporting the marketing and promotion of Through the Glass.

Marketing in the Future:

Since Through the Glass is big on its musical side and soundtrack, we believe it would be good to have a soundtrack be copied onto iTunes as well as onto CDs and Vinyl to give availability to the film if it becomes successful. We feel like it may also be good to perhaps have a video game and even have merchandise for big enthusiasts of the film. however, a videogame would have to follow a different storyline with different characters and could either be set prior to or after the events of the film, therefore expanding the 'Universe' of the film and adding more story to it.

Our Thoughts on the Thriller

Mitchel, Cory, and myself all got together and shared our thoughts on the thriller opening as we watched through it, deciding it'd be useful information for our blogs, we then decided to record our opinions and make the following video:

We hope you find this interesting, we found it useful to look back and see where we could improve or alternate our methods of making the film.

Final Piece

Here it is, the final edit for the opening of "Through the Glass", from Absolutely Productions, in association with Redstar Productions.

We've worked hard on this and, from everyone involved, we hope that you enjoy it!

First Draft Audience Response

We showed our first draft to some other members of the sixth form, and filmed their responses to what we've made. This is the video compilation of their responses that we'll use to improve for our final piece.

First Draft

The following is the first draft of our Opening to"Through the Glass", we already noticed some issues with continuity, and intend to sort these using editing for the final piece. we will try to avoid re-filming anything as much as possible in order to save time.

This would also be how problems like this would be solved in real film industry, due to the cost of re-shooting a scene being so high (this can be because of the cost of props or camera uses as well as paying actors)

Filming day

The following photos were taken on the day that we went into Chesterfield town centre to film our thriller opening, I have given some context to each photo or set of photos.

These first two were taken at the information centre, the first looking down the street opposite toward the market hall, and the second looking down the opposite road and past the shop, the second photo was actually where we lined the camera up for one of our shots to be taken.

Once we had finished filming by the Information Centre, we then moved on to the other side of town (near to the salvation army shop), where we set up the camera for the next scene, pictured is executive producer Cory setting up the tripod for the shot. All three of us are in this scene so we had to start recording then move to make it.

Here we have Imogen getting ready to play her role in the scene as our ghost.

We then went down the road to the Antique Centre, where we filmed our last Scene. Here is Cory checking out some of the things on sale before filming.

We decided after filming to take a quick look around at some of the things on offer in the shop, there were some really interesting things there.

All in all, it was a good day, we got all the filming done and had a good time. Imogen and I decided to look like "media farmers" for a photo. And we had a group photo too.

Storyboard and Screenplay

Hello!
This is the video of our group's original storyboard, this was made before Isaac left the group so, naturally, features him and details shots that we intended to take with him in them. this meant that we had to rewrite the storyboard to fit around cast changes as well as screenplay and scripting changes.



The revised storyboard will be featured in a future post, hopefully it will be better presented and show our opening in a more clear way.

The following is the original Screenplay for the opening of our thriller (Through the Glass). this includes Isaac and Liam's parts, meaning that this also had to be rewritten as well as the storyboard:

Screenplay – Through the Glass –

“One month earlier” – MAYBE.

Ambient sounds of birds whistling to traffic. Potential of discordant music – foreshadow – black screen.

Fades in on Mitchel, Isaac, Cory and Jaden in separate scenes walking around Chesterfield, cross-cutting on and off of each character. Elucidated below:

Selected music plays.

Cory walks out of McDonalds.

Jaden walks out of Game.

Isaac walks out of Tallbirds.

Mitchel walks out of River Island. (All locations are subliminally relevant to each character).

(Progressive music should employ mysterious persona as they are travelling to the destination delineated).

Long shots of Cory walking. POV shots of Isaac. Progressive pan of Jaden. Aerial shot of Mitchel (gorilla grip on a lamppost for instance from the right – looking left).

Finally, a shot of the foursome walking towards the camera until they cover the screen. However, the screen should be split in four (2x2 grid) and each character still in their general respective locations.

Ultimately on their way to back of The Portland Hotel – which is virtually next to antique centre.

Cuts to friendly meet up – long shots and patting backs.  Diegetic sounds.

Jaden: “Does anyone even go in that place?”

Cuts to us walking towards the camera which is across the road – the foursome walks towards the camera.

Insert of opening door handle – match on action process in entering the store.

Fades into cross cuts of different items around the shop (three or four. Old fashioned filter, slow motion of price tag swinging to look more ominous) montage of the different items.

Slow motion effect needs to be prominent – sudden shift in the persona. Perhaps some blurred shifting slow motion like hallucination.

Mid shots of Jaden, Isaac and Mitchel looking at/ picking up different items.

Cuts to us Cory finding and picking up ‘the glasses’.

Unnerving music as Cory puts the glasses on curiously, but slowly. Not really slowly but takes him about 3 seconds. Cory needs to be looking down whilst putting them.

POV shot of Cory – looks up to Mitchel and Isaac and sees Liam (ghost) behind Mitchel and Isaac, in between our shoulders – looking demonic, possessed.

Instantaneously drops camera down in a fast motion (because the vision of Liam) and heartbeats begin.

Cuts  

Darkness with slight little white flickers maybe. With text – “Based on a true story”.

Discordant sounds when the text is present.

(This should be the first title to appear because it adds impact if the first title to appear is “Based on a true story”. It also gives opportunity for the titles to roll in the following scenes in a shot/reverse shot which would apply authenticity).

Cuts to walking into Jaden’s front door – mid shot of the foursome (camera behind them). Cory would be the last one in the house and might hear unfamiliar sounds, or as if he heard his name shouted. So a close up of Cory’s face which has turned around – he appears confused and agitated about what he heard – Cory’s facial expression needs to be clear to audience.

POV shot of walking up to Jaden’s bedroom. Low key lighting – or no lights on – dark; maybe a few dim lamps on but that’s Music should endue tension, and music should reach a climax until Isaac slams the bedroom door shut and says “right”. Music instantaneously stops when the door closes.

Cuts to Jaden’s bedroom – Spacious, old, wooden furniture. Double bed in centre and dimly lit.

Table or something in centre as we ring around it – discussing the glasses.

High angle shot of the foursome discussing the glasses – perhaps a gorilla grip suspended on a curtain rod which is high up.  

Text present – “A WMN Production, in association with Redstar”. In the bottom left corner of the screen – same font used as the heartbeat interlude. 4 seconds - or until the next scene begins, or fades away as next scene begins.

Shot/reverse shot of the foursome – exchanging regular and irregular utterances. Because Cory is still in the state of shock and is agitated from the ghost sighting. The titles will still be rolling in this section, perhaps cast and director of photography, make up etc.

The others saw the ghost too in the section the audience can’t see (the part in the antique centre) – and it’s not a matter of that they don’t believe him. This is why they’re discussing the origins of the glasses – and thinking about what they should do with them.

~30 seconds of discussion, for example:

“Why did we decide to bring this with us?”

“Because we can see spirits through them! Think about what we could do with these!”

“That’s ridiculous, we should dispose of it really, but how?”

For instance.  

Cory wouldn’t say much in this section because he’s still in distress. He may be looking down appearing sorrowful, or want to contribute to the ‘disposal’ of the glasses.

The characters need to be frightened and cautious of touching the glasses – because they understand the power they have with them.

Sudden bang as Mitchel is talking – interrupted.

They instantly assume it’s nothing and Mitchel carries on talking. This is soon to change when they hear a much louder bang – above their heads.

The foursome look around cautiously and in distress, speculating what the noise was, starting to wonder what the noise was.

Close up/mid shot of the foursome in separate shots. In the order of Cory, Mitchel, Isaac and Jaden. 3 seconds each.

When it’s on Jaden, there’s an extra second and then Liam needs to appear – cuts off – end of the opening.

“Through the Glass” may appear. (Same font).

Group Responsibilities

As part of planning for our production, we have all decided what our different responsibilities are. This is important as it makes it easier to then get things done and get them done quickly as and when they are needed.


Mitchel:
Mitchel wrote up the Screenplay and the Storyboard for us to follow. He is also the Director of Photography (D.O.P.)


Cory:
Cory is the Camera Operator, He filmed a lot of the scenes in our production.


Jaden:
I produced and designed the titling to be used in the production opening, as well as assisting with editing.

We are all partially involved in acting and editing, and it is important to note that we lost a member of the group. Isaac, previously a member of the group, has left school and has cut ties with anything to do with the production, meaning that he can't participate any more in the production.

Order of Production

In the media industry, when making films, there is a certain order that things tend to be made in.

A Screenplay comes first, this is a general idea of how the creators of the movie want it to look and how they think it should look in general this is of course changed and altered throughout production and is almost never the exact same as the film when it's finished.

Around the same time as the screenplay, a storyboard should be drawn up, this is a set of frames for the entire film which is used during filming as a guideline that is stuck to quite closely. A storyboard features sketched versions of how the producers want the film to look as well as how they want the camera to move and when they want it to move.

After the storyboard and the screenplay is finished, the production of the film can start, this includes making props and costumes, and then moving on to actually filming the video. this is the second most time consuming part of the entire production, however that is only if it is done efficiently and the storyboard and screenplay are used effectively, otherwise it is the most time consuming part, which usually costs more money and can even force a production over budget, which is even worse a thing as it can then do a lot of damage to the production costs that already exist and make them even higher.

 

Finally, once all filming is wrapped and over, the post production and editing can start. editing should take up the most time in film production as there are many things to consider such as match on action and continuity. not only this but a trailer and other adverts need to be made for the production (this only usually applies to films and TV productions- Music Videos don't usually have trailers).

 

When all of the above is finished and the final film is ready, it can be released to the public.

Lighting Tests

In order to understand how lighting can help during filming, and how different types of lighting can portray a character's persona,  we took a piece of lighting equipment and a camera and tried to see how we could portray a person using lighting.
 
In most of the photos, my expression is neutral, however the angle of the lighting and colour of it can still change the feeling or connotations of the shot.

In this first shot, for example, the under lighting on my face could connote that a character is untrustworthy. Lighting like this is commonly used in films where the main character has to go to another character for something that they need in order to complete their goals within the film.

In this second shot, the lighting casts a shadow over my face, this hides some of my features. When characters have features of their faces hidden they are usually an important character in the film that is "pulling the strings" and making things happen to the main character. A plot like this is usually found in superhero films or Spy films such as Spectre, the James Bond film. This type of lighting creates intrigue about the character, which can be useful for building suspense in a thriller film. Moreover, the lighting is quite intense, like a spotlight, this is often seen in crime dramas where a light is moved onto someone's face.



In this photo, only half of my face is visible, creating a mysterious air about the character or a sense of intrigue. Shots like this are commonly also used on characters that are quite sinister and deceptive, this is linked as some of the face is hidden, connoting that not everything is known about the character yet.

 

A shot with lighting like this is often used in scenes where someone is moving around in a partially lit room, for example a horror scene where a character is moving around a house with a killer in there with them. this shot does cover part of the face, as well as drawing the audience's attention to the character's face. Moreover, it reveals enough to show the detail of emotion on the character's face.

Moving on, in this shot the light is quite intense and is pointing almost directly at my face. This can connote that a character is in a vulnerable position, for example a criminal may have just been caught by the police after being on the run in a chase scene. Another time that this shot is used could be in a theatrical reveal. For example, when a character that has been kept mysterious throughout the film is finally shown, it may be that they have a spotlight move to their face.

In the final shot, the light is quite weak as well as at an angle. This resembles a light that could be coming from another room and shining through into the place where the character is (possibly outside but most likely another room). This connotes that the character is listening in or spying on someone.

Roles of Sound in Film Making

In film, sound is really important, not just the soundtrack, but the way words are said and even if they can be heard.

I explored how different songs can change a scene by looking at 'Jurassic World', specifically, the scene where the Indominus Rex escapes it's pen.



This is the video with the scene in it four times, once with the original music, and three times with different songs over the top.

I will use this video while making the thriller opening with my group as it shows me what types of music can have certain effects on how film is received.

There was a problem during editing and for some reason, the transition audio I used kept repeating itself during the last of the three clips.

Enjoy!

Music credits go to Disney, D.M.X, and Foster the People.

Passive/Active Audience ~ Audience Theory

This is the second of the audience theories I learned about today, Passive/Active audience theory.

The passive audience theory is an audience that merely observes and event rather than actively responding to it.

There've been a few studies carried out on what is called the 'audience effect'. The active audience theory argues that media audiences do not just receive information passively, but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts.

Decoding of a media message may therefore be influenced by such things as family background, beliefs, values, culture, interests, education and experiences. This can affect how an audience may relate to a character or who they sympathise with in the production.

Two Step Flow (Diffusion of Innovation) ~ Audience Theory

Hello! today we all learned about Audience theories, so here is one of them, Two Step Flow.

Two Step Flow is about how key/influential people in media can affect other people, it was discovered by Paul Lazarsfeld in a classic voting poll in New York in 1940.

It explains how people such as YouTubers or movie reviewers can act as 'gatekeepers' for what people see or know about in media. Also how media (such as a film) doesn't just go from producer to consumer. It goes to people that're in the middle first.

So, for example, a film could be released, and sent to a reviewer (or reviewed by another person independently) and what they say about the film -positive or negative- can affect how their viewers/fans respond to the film.