Introduction to the project

-Our project is about a stalker.

-It is based on a scary/horror genre. It is just the opening sequence to the film

-I worked with Lewis Crichton and Brodie Hope. Lewis and I worked as the main characters and Brodie wasn't a part as a character but we all worked on the filming.

-I did a lot of the acting in it and also did some of the filming and bits of the editing, I also did a lot of the detailed parts on the blog.

-I think that I progressed in my skills throughout the process of the filming and doing the blog.

-I developed lots of skills and learnt a lot of things that I didn't know before. I also think that by going over and over the filming I learnt most things as I realised what I was doing wrong and what was good and learnt from them helping me to develop my skills.

We found people of our particular target groups as we did not want people watching this that had no interest in horror/scary films what so ever as it was inevitable that we would get negative feedback due to the fact they did not enjoy that type of films in the first place. Therefore we got some college friends, the other group that did a film in the class and I also got some family and my boyfriend from home. The feedback was good on a whole although there were some bits that weren't completely positive although they were not negative either which is good for us a group as we thought that if we got quite a few people to analyse it then we were bound to get some bad comments although we didn't. We also made sure that we did not just get people that we were friendly with as they are bound to just put nice things so they did not offend us, although to be truthful. When we come to doing something like this again it will help us to enable our work to be this is not what we wanted as we wanted people better from the feedback that we have gained.

Most people noticed that our film was a build up to a horror/scary/thriller film although some people found it strange. We could not decide whether this was a good thing or not because in a way it was meant to seem quite strange and as if it had something eary about it because it was a horror and scary film although we didn't want the audience to feel like they didn't have a clue what was going on in it as in the opening scene of something it is the aim to get across to the reader what is going on helping them to decide weather or not they find it interesting and want to continue watching. Our main aim was to grasp them in in the start of it yet not give to much away as when it is an opening scene you do not want the main thing happening straight away as the viewer is bound to loose interest the rest of the way through, the main aim was to create tension and make the reader feel they are getting excited as to guessing what is going to go on in the next bit.ost people distinguished that the main aim was to create tension and make the reader feel they are getting excited as to guessing what is going to go on in the next bit.

One of the main good points we got from the surveys that the viewers did was that they all said that they found it interesting the way through and that they would continue to watch it. This was a very good boost for us as we did not get one person saying they didn't find it interesting and that they wouldn't continue watching. The feedback was really positive and they also said that it created tension as it built up to the very start of the film when it said 'the list' our main aim was for it to feel like this for the viewers and it did for us so we were thrilled to see that it did the same for the rest of the people watching it. They also said it would keep them watching as it left them in suspense because at the very end you just saw him follow me into a room and then nothing else after that, this made the reader question? what is going to happen next so they did continue watching. Our first idea was to create a screaming sound as if I was in danger although we realised that this much give too much away, although it could be seen as not making it interesting enough we believed that it made it better and our comments seem to reflect this.

One of our main downfalls was that some of the people said that the music did not go very well at all times. This was mainly because we left our music until last minute which we then went on to realise was a very silly idea as something alternate could of created such a better mood/feel/atmosphere to the opening sequence although it did fit in a way. It was quite good because the sound was very alternate and the range of the sounds in the music varied allot, making some sounds very loud and noticeable and others quieter and less effective. Also the sound of the music sort of had a Egyptian feel to it as it got the way through, we didn't think it would sound to bad as you didn't hear a great deal of this but it was obviously too noticeable and people felt for that reason that something more scary sounding should have been used. Not only the reason that we had this problem was down to leaving it until last minute but the music had to be copyrighted for us to use it so we did not have that many choices. We/I would definitely take this into account next time I was creating a film.

Over all the feedback that we got from our viewers was good on a whole. We didn't have 100% positive comments but I believe strongly that mistakes make you stronger and your performance better the next time as you learn from what you have done wrong and progress from them building better ideas. I will certainly think about everything that was said about this task next time I am creating another film in media or anything film like.

Results from questionnaire

HorrorDont knowSomething else

What does the sequence at genre belong to????

Lewis and LilyLewis and BrodieLilyLewisAll three of themNot sure

Who are the main characters in the opening sequence?

YesNoAbit

Is it clear what is going on?

YesNo

Do you want to keep watching from what you have seen?

YesNoSort of

Did the pace of the sequence feel right to you?

Yes No

Most of them

Did the images work well with the music?

YeahNoSometimes

Did you find it interesting?

Over all when looking back on our findings from the questionnaire we do have a lot of good feedback and some slightly bad but this will benefit us in the long run.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS.

The genre for our final project was scary.In order for us to portray this there are many necessary things that needed doing. We decided that the characters clothing needed to be thought about, music and facial expression mainly. Our aim was to make this look as real life like as possible.

So for this reason we had the villain; Lewis in a dark hooded jacket. We found this would be necceiary so the viewer sort of got an idea that he was not a good guy.

We had me the victim in just day to day clothing so it looked as if it was just a normal day for me.

Also in horror films you often see the villain with some kind of weapon, for this we decided to create something new and different rather than something such as a knife or a gun, so we used a rope. This was still keeping the thought of something being scary but adding something slightly different to the genre.

Also we did the title with a black background and white writing, this was to not give it a really happy look but bland and more bold, giving it more of a scary look to it.

Hooded jacket, can not see his face

Casual day to day clothing for the victim

If you notice here there are three horror films, our start/front cover for the film is black and white as these are here, it therefore shows that it fulfils the requirements for how they should look as a horror film

You can also see here that there are weapons being used within horror films, this is very likely that is why we used a rope rather than using a gun or a knife, yet we can see that we have reached the requirements as this leaves suspense.

From our audience feed back and the pictures above it is very noticeable that we have reached all of the requirements needed for the opening sequence and the genre that we were using. The viewers noted that it built up suspense and also made you want to keep watching it because you see him with the rope and wonder what is going to happen next.

Other films

Our film

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

Our media product had represented the particular type of social groups such as young teens and also villains and victims.

The way it has done this is, because we are based in a canteen so therefore it is showing young people and them in their surroundings; college. You can tell it is based on young people from the casual college clothes, how the look, and the setting that it is in. All of it is based around the college and is focusing on the life and daily routine of the main character me.On the other hand it is focusing on villains and victims. Because I am the victim who is being followed around college by Lewis. A young boy of my age, and he is obviously following me around college with an intention of doing something to me. So this therefore gets across to the viewer that we have a villain and a victim in it. Lewis being the villain and me being the victim. We see all about stereotypes here as we all looked on as young teens throughout this because we are sat around messing about in the college. Although we show a contrast of something as well that does not always happen in day to day life where you see somebody following somebody around intensely and also we see from the start that Lewis has some kind of strange and wierd obsession that is not really normal.

We used a range of camera shots, long shots when lewis was following me, shorter onces when it was going close up on me to create contrasting effects.We also did it in day light all the way up untill the end to make it all seem happy like everything is fine then it goes darker and you realise something is about to go wrong.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

I have had a look at quite allot of film distributers and I have found one company that base their films that they distribute on horror films.

Hammer Film Productions -I think that this company would be one that could possibly distribute this as they aim for films that shock the viewers and with our film because what is going on is something that is like a real life event and something that could happen to anybody at any time in their life. Stalking is well known and is something that there has been many cases of so for this reason i believe it would be a possible choice as it is like a real life event and bound to shock.

I also think that they would consider it because it gets very interesting as it builds up and has potential to be made into something that could be very popular. I also think that it would appeal to a large range of people as it could be scary for some people but also interesting. As well there is allot that you could do with it and you could make it to.

I think as well that it would be good to distribute world wide because it is not just one certain type/race of people that would be interested in watching it, it could be people worldwide because it had potential for being a good spine chilling film. It is also very popular and has a international appeal.

Also they would most likely make a lot of money because stalker type films are really popular with people as they are all similar but with a different twist and this is what ours is.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

We did our target group audience for teens and young/older adults. I would say that our film would probably be most popular to people from teens at around 16 to 40. I don't think that people of a younger age would enjoy this or for that matter I don't think that it would be suitable. As well as this I don't think it would be approved of for young children to watch this so for that reason it would probably classify at a 15.

I do not think people that were older would enjoy it because it could really frighten people and they would not enjoy it for this reason. It would aim at the people that had horror/scary films as there all time favourite films, not really people that just enjoyed them a little It would mainly be for people that were big fans of horror films so then it gives us a wide area of audience.

This audience would potentially be a good choice i think because they are a large mass audience as there are many primary and secondary people. Also in our original audience research we found that many teens enjoyed horror most.

As well if it is younger people it would be good because they enjoy going to the cinema and buying films more. Familys could go together or young teens could go together, this could additionally help for building the money that it would make as the cinemas aren't really seen with young children in or really older people as they do not enjoy sitting there and watching films.

There would not really be a secondary target audience as I think this would most likely be the best and enough people. I let younger/middle aged people view it and they all said it was good and interesting and that they would continue watching it throughout.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

-We found a common and noticeable setting for our film so that the audience found it easy to familiar there self with something like it was and imagine it happening in real life, making it easier for them to enjoy it and also making it more realistic. Also the audience would immediatley recognise it as teen stalker/slasher.

-We set up an enigma, at the start we had a list and somebody scribbling over one name, from this it made us wonder what was actually going to happen to this person in the film, it made you question it so you wanted to watch on.

-We used a build up of suspense as we see Lewis following her all the way through and as he follows and follows you wonder what he's doing. Also at the start we see him scribbling my name out on something, as well as this we see him stood watching me so it makes you wonder what he's doing and why he’s watching me. Also we see a unknown call come up on my phone, building suspense as to who is calling me and why, makes you wonder if its him. We did this because we thought it would make it more scary for the viewer as they would feel helpless for her when she is in danger.

-We also used ideologies about some things that actually happen in real life, because we did this in a common place with just normal school children it gives the viewers a feel that this could happen to anybody and this could be real, it is effective because it enlightens you on things like this and crime that actually goes on.

-As well we use music throughout to create an atmosphere and also give it a scary feel. This didn’t work as well as we waned it to but always could next time we came to do it. Our audience feedback also showed this as people said it didn’t fit well.

-We also used various shots, long shots, panning, close ups. These were all to add effect and make it feel scary and add suspense at times.

-We also used different types of lighting , for example part is outside and it is light to show its all good and fine, then after when i am being followed it goes into a dark room to show something bad is going to happen.

-We also used credits and titles so that the viewers found it easier to familiar themselves as to what was going on. The audience feedback also showed that this worked as we had good feedback in this area.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT.

-In our process of constructing our product we have learnt allot of things. -I have learnt more about how to use a camera and how to do various shots which have helped me throughout filming. -I have also learnt how to handheld film and also how to film on a tripod.-As well i have learnt how to edit on the Macs once we had fininished it. -I learnt how to do particular shots, long shots, panning, zooming, short shots.-I also learnt how to add music and special effect.-Also we learnt how to add titles and credits, as well to change colours of the film. -I have also learnt how to upload photos using a firewire cable.-Alot of these things i have learnt have benefited me and my group throughout doing our film and i dont think that we would have been able to do it without all of these techniques.-The equipment allows you to do so much and it is really good to experiment with and will help gain quality of products we do in the future. -Also learnt that we needed to focus more on time management in order for everything to work well.

LOOKING BACK AT OUR PRELIMINARY TASK WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Prelim Task

-Plain – Basic.-No Credits.-All basic shots.-Not very well thought into.-Not interesting.-No set theme.

Over all it was not very well planned out and a very basic task.

Final Project

-Interesting.-Set Genre.-Variation of shots;Long shots,panning,close up, zoom in and out,.-Credits and Titles.-Better quality.

Overall it was better quality, more time and effort was put in resulting in it being alot better than our pre lim.

PERSONAL PROGRESSStrengths I believe that throughout this experience i have gained a lot of progress.I have definitely become a lot more skilled with my filming and this has shown from what i did in the preliminary task and the final project.Also i learnt how to edit and I found that really interesting as we were all able to contribute to the editing of the final project. The project strengths were the variation of shots, acting and credits.

WeaknessesI think that I have over come some weaknesses. Concentration being the main one. Our group found it hard to concentrate and organise things well as we were a group of friends, although we did finish it in the end I think we would have been more sensible to have done it all organised and timed. As a lot got left until last minute but this is something I will learn from!The weaknesses over all of the project were the music choice, time management and the location choice.

Over all I think that it is a good project. I do not think it is perfect and it doesn't come really close to the real article but it is a good attempt, I do not think that without really good equipment you can make a really good horror film but I think more effort would of made it better, I think it is good because it is real life like but next time I will definitely do more work on it to make it an even better quality.