Evaluation

 

Task Brief - A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

•        A poster of the film

•        A radio trailer for the film

•        A film magazine review page featuring the film

 

 

 

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

 

When it came to creating our short film, we found that one of the most important areas that we had to focus on was the genre and the codes and conventions of our chosen genre. We looked at a wide range of genres focusing on the ones that would allow us to be more creative so that we could make our short film more interesting. We came to a conclusion that we would either create a horror short film, or a drama short film. In order to decide, we had looked into both the genres in a fair amount of detail so that we could discuss what we wanted to focus on. After a group discussion, we had decided that we would create a horror short film. As the horror genre is extremely broad, we had to use secondary and primary research in order to get a clear picture on codes and conventions that are used in the genre. We used secondary research to analyse front covers, articles and films of the horror genre. We used primary research to carry out questionnaires to find out what an audience expects. As a group, we felt that we wanted to focus on a sub-genre of the horror genre in order to make our research more specific. We looked into each main sub-genre and finally came to a decision to focus on the paranormal horror genre.

 

As we were looking into the paranormal genre, we were able to find out typical conventions of these films. For example, I found that paranormal films are usually set in the protagonist’s home or somewhere that is personal or close to the protagonist to create the fear of something unwanted in your personal space. Examples of horror films that show this are, Annabelle, haunting in Connecticut and Ouija. By finding this research, we were able to decide on where we wanted our short film to be set. Other research that I found was that a female character is more likely to believe in something that in paranormal as they are more emotional and therefore more receptive to spirits. This research led us to use a female main character so that we could stick to typical conventions. We found that there tends to be multiple two shots of both the protagonist and the paranormal creature, and that horror films show their awareness of space. It was important for both my group and I to ensure that we researched these codes and conventions in order to develop our ideas and choose which codes and conventions we would use in our short film.

 

We found that either horror films really aim to emphasise the location of the film and make it seem as if the location is just as important as the storyline, or they allow the location to be used as a backdrop and allow it to fade into the background. We felt that it was important to look into what short films use when it comes to locations. We found that they don’t tend to focus on the location as they wouldn’t have much time to set the scene. This is why we decided that we would use the location as a backdrop to other elements in the film. To make sure that everything was consistent in the location we would film at, we ensured that we would as much as possible on the same day. Since we didn’t need to worry about weather, it was a lot easier for us to film as we just needed to make sure that it wasn’t bright outside. A lack of continuity was shown in the bedroom as in one shot the door is closed, and the next shot it is opened. However, this wasn’t very obvious as we used a tracking shot and only saw the door for a split second.

 

Costume and make-up are very useful in a short film as they allow you to represent characters without having to use time to introduce them and whether they are a protagonist or an antagonist. Therefore, the use of costume and make up allowed us to identify the protagonists and the antagonist in a short amount of time. We spent some time deciding on what costumes we would use as we had to make sure that they would represent typical characters. We decided that both the friend and the protagonist should look casual with everyday makeup. However, for the paranormal character, we found a long black dress that helped make them look more like the antagonist. We looked at the costumes in woman in black to help us decide on what the antagonist should look like. We found that the antagonist wears a black dress and as a group we felt that this helped with the horror aspect of the Woman in Black. This is why we decided that the paranormal character (Meredith) should wear dark clothing to help her blend into the background, this meant that we had to focus a lot on the makeup of the character to ensure that the face looked creepy to suit the role, we had to make sure that the characters hair was suitable so we experimented with what looked best. By spending time on the costume and make-up, we were able to distinguish between who were the protagonists and the antagonists.

 

When we watched feature length films of the same genre, for example A Haunting in Connecticut, we saw that there was a great attention to detail when it came to lighting. A lot of natural lighting was used to cast shadows on certain characters. During the night, there would be a lot of lamps as a source of light. We made sure to use natural lighting in some of our short film; however, most of the short film was lit with house lights. We had to experiment with lighting when we would see Meredith as we needed to make sure that we could see her, but we didn’t want to shine such bright light on her. We used to different torches to experiment with lighting. One which was a bright light and another that was slightly dimmer. This allowed us to experiment with lighting in an effective way by using the scenes in which the lighting was better.

 

When we looked at the types of camera shots that were used in a full length film, we found that a lot of close ups were used when the scene would involve the antagonist. We also found that there were a lot of different camera shots in a scene where the paranormal character was present to pick up the pace of the scene. To make sure that we would do the same, we shot each scene with different camera shots to flip back and forth to. This can be shown once the protagonist (Sophia) runs down the stairs. After this, we have a shot where she turns on the light, followed by her running to the dining room, and then towards the patio door. In this scene, the camera shots are quick which links to sense of urgency shown in the short film. We used different angles to show that there’s nothing that Sophia could do to avoid Meredith. For example, in some scenes like the bedroom, Sophia is on the floor in the corner and Meredith is standing up in front of her. This suggests that Sophia has no control and that Meredith is in power. We found that camera angles and shots were specific for the horror genre with the use of lots of close ups to show the sense of urgency in certain scenes. We found that close ups would only be held for a short amount of time in horror films and we felt that it was important for our short film to do the same. However we did challenge this convention at times. We would sometimes hold the close up for a few seconds to show the confusion on Sophia’s face at times as we felt that by holding the length of these shots, it would create a bigger effect. When we were editing our short film, we put an effect on the whole scene where Sophia wakes up. We did this to make sure that the audience was able to distinguish that it was set in the afterlife and that it had been set in another place. By using these different effects, we were able to show our target audience this in a short amount of time which was useful as we had a time constraint and were unable to make this scene much longer, therefore by using the effect, we were able to show this in a relatively short amount of time.

 

Something that we had decided on as a group was that we wanted to create our own soundtrack for our short film. This would mean that we would own all the rights to our short film and we also felt that it would allow us to be more creative in the process. When creating the music, we needed to ensure that what we chose would be suitable for the scene. Throughout most of the short film, we used one single note which was unnerving and helped set the scene. We then used different sounds for different scenes, for example to help create suspense in some scenes.  Since most horror short films focus on one character, there is a lack of dialogue. We felt that we needed to use dialogue to help create a storyline; however, the only dialogue that was used in out short film was at the beginning where Sophia’s friend was at her house. Once the narrative was clear, she leaves and after this point, there’s no other dialogue. We therefore really relied on our soundtrack to make the short film unnerving. I felt that without dialogue, the audience see themselves in a similar position as Sophia which helps show that there is nothing she can do to stop the events from occurring.

 

When creating a short film, we needed to make sure that we used time appropriately. When it came to narrative, we had to keep it simple so that we were able to create a short film which fit our time limit. We had to make sure that if we were to change time and space, that it was obvious. This is why we used an effect in the scene where Sophia wakes up. We had to make sure that the audience were able to understand that this scene shows a change in time and space. I felt that the narrative that we created was successful because we were able to apply it to Todorov’s theory of Narrative. His first stage was the State of Equilibrium – This can be shown when Sophia and her friend are talking at the beginning where no unnatural events occur. The next stage is the Disruption of the Equilibrium – Small unnatural events occurring, for example the lights flickering in the living room, thirdly the recognition of the disruption – Where the main character notices what is going on. Next is the attempt to repair the damage – when Sophia tries to leave the house, finally the new equilibrium where Sophia wakes up in the last scene.

 

My film poster required secondary research in order to get it correct based on typical codes and conventions. I did this by looking at existing film posters to identify the main codes and conventions. I found that most film posters pay a lot of attention to lighting so I made sure that I did the same with my film poster, most of the page was quite dark with light on both Sophia and Meredith. I edited this picture to make areas darker and others brighter as I felt that this was important.  I looked at a range of different posters and found that most common colours that were used were red, white and black. This is why I paid a lot of attention to the colour scheme. I wanted my poster to look similar to a real media product so I researched these codes and conventions. I used large fonts for titles, a credit bar at the bottom, an image which would be identified as part of the horror genre and font associated with the horror genre.

 

 

 

How effective is the combination of your main task and ancillary texts?

 

My main task was to create a short film that lasted approximately 5 minutes and my ancillary texts were to create a film poster and a double page spread for the short film. When creating these media products, I had aimed to represent the genre of the film through types of fonts and images. I made sure that I looked at real media products of the same genre to ensure that I used the correct conventions for my products. I tried to keep the font consistent throughout the 3 media texts; however, I was unable to find the font that we wanted to use on our short film so we had to change the font that we would plan to use. If I were to redo this project, I would make sure that I kept the font consistent so that it would show the use of continuity making the product look more professional.

 

I ensured to keep the colour scheme consistent throughout the three texts. The colour scheme for my poster was white, red and black; this was also the same for my double page spread and this colour scheme was shown in our short film through the title and credits. I felt that this colour scheme was effective as it helped represent the horror genre and I had found from my research that the colour scheme was usually black, white and red. This can be seen in the poster of woman in black 2, nightmare on Elm Street, and scream.

 

In the short film, we don’t seem to see Meredith very much through the whole film; I wanted her to become identifiable through both the poster and the double page spread so that when an audience would watch the film, they would be aware that she’s the antagonist. I felt that it was important to make the audience aware of whom she is through the poster and the double page spread making it clear to the audience that the short film would be based on her.

 

In my double page spread, I wanted to make sure that the page wasn’t too cluttered as I wanted my double page spread to look like a mainstream magazine and to do this, I needed to make sure everything on the page was organised and looked effective. I looked at the types of font for the content for a review page. I had found that most fonts are sans serif, I felt that it was therefore important to make sure that my own review page used sans serif font so that it would look professional.

 

I felt that visual cues such as colour, font and images provide a consistent foundation that any short film could be marketed on

 

 

 

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?

 

The A2 media studies task significantly differed from the task for AS level media studies based on skills and equipment. Specifically the task of the sort film required the demand of different technology and equipment that were new to me in order to create a high quality product. For example, a Canon 550D was used when it came to filming our short film, and was also used for both the images for my poster and double page spread. To edit our short film, we used iMovie and for our soundtrack, we used Garage band; both which can be found on an Apple iMac. In our group, none of us had previously used an Apple iMac and we all found it quite difficult to get used to, luckily, it was easy to get the hang of which made editing much easier for us. To create and edit my ancillary products, I used both Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0. The website www.wix.com, was used for blogging purposes of research, planning and evaluation, which was used on either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer.

 

As internet and computer facilities were available to me, I was able to use secondary research to grasp an understanding of genre and key features that I was able to use in areas of my short film as well as for my ancillary tasks. I was able to compose a solid base of knowledge based on real media products which helped me recognise the codes and conventions of a horror film so that I could adopt this to my own work. I was able to organise and present my research through the use of Microsoft Word, and www.wix.com. I used different pages to organise my work and make it more creative, especially through the use of images.

 

Something that we discussed in our group was that we wanted to use a camera that was of high quality, this led to us using a Canon 550D camera to shoot our short film. This camera allowed all of our shout film to be of good quality. We were able to manually focus the camera to ensure that everything was in focus. However, one of the scenes in our short film wasn’t in focus as we forgot to focus the camera in that scene. This meant that we had to edit this scene to make it less obvious that the camera was slightly out of focus. However, the manual focus came in handy when we were to film close ups as some cameras are more blurry when you are trying to get a close up.

When we created our soundtrack for our short film using garage band, we used different instruments for different effects, when it came to jump scares, we found it quite difficult to find a sound that would fit in with the scare, and therefore the soundtrack took us a lot of time to get right. None of us had any experience with Garage band which also added to the time it took for us to create a soundtrack

 

When we came to editing our short film, we started off by using Final Cut Pro, however, this software took a lot of time to import all of our footage, since we found iMovie faster at importing this footage, so we decided to use this. iMovie allowed us to layer lots of sounds while allowing us to adjust volume and fade audio in and out. This came in useful when we wanted certain audio to be transferred onto another shot. iMovie also allowed us to crop our footage so that we could use what we needed and not the whole clip. We were also able to create a credits page and a title page. All these tools helped us when it came to creating the short film. I had previously had no experience with iMovie, but after using it, I became very confident with it and was able to help others in my group if they were editing.

 

For my ancillary texts, I used both Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0, as I already had experience with Photoshop, and I had also used this to create both my music magazine and school magazine in AS level media. I felt that I was quite confident when using Photoshop as it requires a few main tools and once you get the hang of it, it becomes a lot easier to use. I was able to edit contract, brightness, and hues of my images which I felt was extremely useful, especially when it came to making the images darker. I think that the way that the main images are edited on my ancillary texts are effective and have been edited in a way that represents the horror genre.

 

 

What have learnt from your audience feedback?

 

After showing our short film to an audience, we created a short questionnaire on our film so that we could gain a sense of their opinion of how well our group fulfilled the expectations of our target audience. We asked our audience what their age and gender so that we knew who our audience were. We asked our audience ‘did you enjoy the short film?’ ‘Did you understand the short film?’ ‘What horror sub-genre do you think our short film would come under?’ ‘Are the conventions of this genre portrayed in our short film?’ ‘What aspects did you find the most frightening?’ ‘What aspects did you find the least frightening?’ and ‘what scene did you find the most frightening and why?’

 

We asked 25 people to watch our short film and fill out a questionnaire. We wanted to ask a range of people to watch our short film because we wanted to see what age rating we should give our short film. Most of the people who watched our short film were 18 years old, however, we did have 3 people who were 14, 3 who were 15, 2 who were 16, and 8 who were 17. We tried to ask both males and female to watch our short film so that we could get a mixed response. 13 males and 12 females watched our short film, we were glad that our audience was almost 50% male and 50% female as when we researched our target audience, a lot of the time, it was both males and females.

We all felt that we should know whether or not our audience actually enjoyed our short film, and also whether they understood it or not. When we asked if our audience enjoyed our short film, 24 people said that they did enjoy it while one person said that they didn’t enjoy the short film. After carrying out our survey, we felt that we should have asked why, as we would have known what made it effective. Everybody that we asked said that they understood the short film, which means that as a group, we made the narrative and the storyline clear for our audience.

 

One question that we felt was extremely important was ‘What horror sub-genre do you think our short film would come under?’ The answer to this question would determine if we met the codes and conventions of the genre. Unfortunately, we didn’t think carefully about the way that this question was worded until after distributing our questionnaires. A few people selected multiple genres which made our results confusing. However 25 people selected paranormal which meant that everyone who filled out our questionnaire circled paranormal and may or may not have selected another genre. Our following question was ‘Are the conventions of this genre portrayed in our short film?’ This was another important question because if we didn’t meet the codes and conventions, it would mean that we would need to research the paranormal genre further. However, everyone answered yes to this question which meant that we had succeeded in creating a paranormal short film.

 

Our next two questions were included to see what the audience thought we done well, and what we could improve on to make it better. We asked what aspects they find the most and least frightening. After asking this question, we felt that we needed to be clear in this question as well because some people circled multiple responses. We paid close attention to the different aspects of a short film, for example editing, sound, camera angles, misé en scene and lighting as we wanted to see what people thought was the most effective and the least effective. We found that the sound was the strongest aspect of our short film as 17 out of 30 answers were sound. However when we were creating the sound we didn’t feel that it was the strongest. We felt that the answer to this question was therefore quite reassuring. The response for the least frightening aspect was camera angles, however we did expect this as we felt that we should have used more close up shots through the film to achieve this.

 

Finally we asked our audience which scene they thought was the most frightening. We left this as an open question so that we could get a mixture of responses. We also asked why they felt it was the most frightening so that we would know what we did well. Not everyone answered this question, this may be because it was an open question and we felt that less people would answer this because of this. If we were to improve our questionnaire, we would make sure that we would only collect it if everything was filled out. 8 out of 18 people said that the ending was the most frightening scene, and we found out that a lot of people said that it was the most frightening as it was surprising.

 

We therefore learnt from our audience feedback that they knew our short film was a paranormal horror, it also met the conventions for this genre. We found that we could have focused more on camera angles however as this was seen as the least frightening.