Evaluation

AS MEDIA EVALUATION

Consider Yourself opening- Youtube - 00:00-02:15

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The main social group presented in our opening is teenage females and teenagers in general. There is a short appearance from a young male, however very little is revealed about him. As the killer is masked, and therefor their identity, it is hard to give the character representation. The main character, played by Caitlin Warner, is 16, Caucasian and female. Therefor not a particular minority however as she is female the conventional way to represent her would be as vulnerable as often females are in media.

It is more and more common for production companies to push the boundaries of these social conventions. Films such as the hunger games, frozen, even scream were the well needed real driving force of portraying strong relatable female characters. Of course it can be easily argued that Amber is killed in the opening, therefor weak, however our whole film construct was aimed to mislead the audience and break social conventions. There are also scenes that portray Amber as powerful such as Amber kicking out her male partner Brad. In a reasonably progressive world it is necessary to note that contextual acts like this are not out of the ordinary and represents young females fairly, however classically this would be considered perhaps unlikely.

I was curious about how a younger audience member (12 and under) would find Amber as although my generation was raised around 'girl power' etc and movies such as charlies angels, powerful girls in media were still often sexualised where as with movies such as frozen etc I feel although theres not much difference between our target audience and this age group, we have grown up with different perspectives, and so decided to ask a very opinionated 11 year old on their thoughts about her;

https://soundcloud.com/cigga14/young-opinion-on-amber

I find it interesting how little things about the character was noted to portray an even maturer and braver image then originally set out to achieve. And the age group we set to portray was said. Obviously as 11 year olds aren't our target audience we have collected other opinions.

http://prezi.com/jdegyefqqgxt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

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

From research we know we would have to distribute our product with independent film distribution companies. Often films produced and distributed independently have a smaller budget and work with multiple companies, unlike big film companies as they have their own subsidiaries which can work on separate parts of film production and distribution. It is also noted independent films are more likely to explore darker themes which ours does so would be more suited to a independent company rather than a conglomerate. Through film analysis and separate research we have found two possible distribution companies.

USA DISTRUBUTION

Ghost House Pictures is an American horror movie production company that was founded in 2002 by Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi which works with big and independent films. There is not much information about them online however I have observed many of their films and they're films explore dark themes similar to ours.

Production of note:

The grudge, 2004

Drag me to Hell, 2009

Poltergeist, 2015

When presented with this question I instantly thought of Ghost House Pictures as I often admire their films and they worked with 2/3 of the films I analysed previously. As our film has a specific target audience and very low budget we would most likely work with their subsidiary Ghost House underground.

As our film would most likely appeal to a western audience, a US and Uk distribution company would be needed. Ghost House Picture and Ghost House Underground have previously distributed films in both these country's so would be suited to the job. They are an american company so we may use a different company to distribute in the UK. However, after research and observation of their distribution of 'the Children' in the UK w e feel they would be suited for both countries. The film opened at no.10 in the UK, grossing £98,205 at 132 cinemas. In the weeks after its release, the film dropped to no.13 and then again to no.22.

ONLINE

As our target audience is young adults, the most popular way of viewing in this age group is streamable content, therefor to appeal to our audience we would likely distribute our film with a streaming company. Advances in technology has aloud much more access to a wider range of content, especially indie films as before they would only be able to be viewed on DVD and most likely not aired on TV or in cinemas. This has allowed access to a wider audience range and a larger diversity in popular content.   

NETFLIX

One of the most well known streaming companies is Netflix. Netflix, Inc. is an American entertainment company founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California. Netflix specialize in and provides streaming media and video-on-demand online and DVD by mail.

As well as providing content, in more recent years, Netflix has been known for producing its own series and movies which have been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Therefor working with Netflix would be ideal as they have been successful in making quality content that is dark yet appeals to a wide range. Shows such as orange is the new black and stranger things have done well both in the UK and US. Netflix in fact has managed to sign up in excess of 1 in 10 British households. The likely hood of films being illegally distributed online in this day and age is very high. When a film is distributed on Netflix it has been found to decrease illegal downloads therefor increasing profit and motive to be distributed on Netflix. 

illegal download statistics;

"Since the year 2000, the bandwidth used to download illegal pirated entertainment options has increased by over 160%.

In January when he 13, it is estimated that 327 million unique users illegally sought to engage with copyrighted content that they had no right to access.

The percentage of the internet that is used to download illegal content: 24%.

From November 2011 to January 2013, the number of visitors worldwide to direct download cyber lockers fell 8% to 149 million.

BitTorrent websites accounted for 7.4 billion page views, up 31% from November 2011.

Video-streaming sites generated 4.2 billion pages, up 34% in the same time period."

Who would be the audience for your media product and
 how did you attract/address your audience?

IDEAL AUDIENCE MEMBER

When choosing the focus group we tried to include a range of girls, but participant number 1 definitely fell under our ideal audience member group, based off their gender, age and interests. 


Participant Profile number one:


Name: Chelsie

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Lives: Berkshire, England

Studying: History, Business, English Literature

Favourite Genre of Movie: Horror

Favourite Social Media Type: Tumblr

Favourite Movies: Donnie Darko, Scream, Psycho, American Psycho, Clueless

Favourite TV shows: Stranger Things, Scream Queens, Riverdale

Favourite Music genre: Rock (old & new)

FOCUS GROUP REVIEW

How old are you?

1. 16

2. 18

3. 17

4. 16

5. 15

Whats your favourite genre of film and favourite film or tv show?

1. Horror- Scream

2. Horror - House of Wax, Saw

3. Horror - Scream Queens

4. Action/ Thriller - Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club

5. Comedy - Juno

Would you continue watching?

1. "Yah I'd want to see more, It reminds me a bit of scream and also Halloween but not to the point where it seems like a rip off so I'd be happy to continue watching. I also like the aesthetic, like the vinyl player etc creates a nostalgic theme. "

2. "Yes. It seems like theres more to be told as well about the opening, although I would hope there would be more character variation as it went on"

3. "The opening and build up was a bit rushed for me if I'm honest, and I like a bit of comedic satire in my horror movies but I am curious about the situation so I'd need to see more before I made a decision whether to continue watching or not "

4. " I liked the use of the music from the vinyl player and the opening seems still quite mysterious, like I'm assuming she was kicking out her boyfriend but I'd want to know more about that "

5. " I think it looks cool and I like the setting, particularly the bedroom, but I'm a bit squeamish and I liked that it wasn't graphic when it came to the ending but I'm just not that into horror so I wouldn't continue watching if I was on my own"

What age rating would you give it?

1. "15 probably"

2. "Could be a 12, but seems set up to be a 15 because of it's mature themes"

3. "15 at the most"

4. "definitely no younger than 13/14"

5. "At least a 15"

Would you recommend 'Consider Yourself' to a friend?

1. 'Yah I'd probably watch it at a sleepover or something"

2. "Yes, especially if they're a fan of slasher films"

3. "Probably, particularly if they're into independents"

4. "Yes I think so, based off what you've told me in your film research"

5. "If they like horror movies"

If you have one, what was your favourite shot?

1. "I liked the shot of the record player and the transition to the girl hearing it, so it was like we got to see it from the killers and the girls perspective and it was quite a creepy introduction to the threat, and unusual."

2. "I liked the shot where it follows the girl up the stairs because it was quite suspenseful even without dramatic typical horror music"

3. "I like the POV shot and all the sound effects you can hear over the credits and just the picture they created of a party ending and then you get to see it was probably because of the fight between the girl and the guy that leaves, so I'm curious as to why."

4. "I really like the shot from outside of the window before the lights go out because it isolates her in a way and it creates the sense of being watched which is quite spooky"

5. "I liked the editing of the text messages and the credits font because it was quite aesthetically pleasing in my opinion."

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product and looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From our preliminary task to our main task we were now able to confidently use the auto focus when taking a shot where no effect was needed, such as a blurry effect transitioning to a clear focus. We used auto focus when no effect was needed making it easier to film certain shots. We learnt how to use the shutter speed in the making of the opening, such as making certain movements faster or slower, also the use of the ISO on the camera, affecting the sensitivity of the sensor adjusting the image. Upon experimenting with the camera, we found that the camera would record at a maximum of 30 seconds, in the settings there were options to disable to auto timing which helped us during filming. During filming the battery ran out when previously I had charged it fully, however during my research I discovered that the battery had to be charged all night, rather than unplugging my battery when the light turned green. When filming a second time this really helped us film for longer and we managed to film all our shots. We also used two cameras, one from school and my home camera which allowed us to capture different shots for our opening. 

During the preliminary task we only used auto focus, and during the main task we started to use the manual focus to create a certain effect.By using the manual focus, we were able to create a pov shot, creating an unsettling atmosphere for the audience. I also learnt that by holding the camera close to your chest stabilises the camera and gives you a better quality shot. 

Previously in our preliminary task our story board was not clear when showing each room as we did not know what the location looked like exactly, during filming this changed the position of our shots and did follow the order we wanted. Although, during our main task we knew each room we were going to film in, and the story board made this even more clear and made filming easier. Also, during our main task there was a lot more communication within our group when deciding where to film. Moreover, when working on different blogs together I learnt how to create a gif, by selecting the link from YouTube and pasting it into a gif maker website. Next, selecting the part of the video you want and downloading onto your desktop, this became extremely helpful when making a creative blog post.

In our preliminary task, in the editing process we only used basic cuts. However, in the process of making our main task, we started to see which transitions were effective for our opening. After our teacher suggested some options we could look at, such as the fade to black transition, to make our shots look more like an opening rather than a short film or a trailer. The transition, slows the pace of the speed down, creating a more suspenseful atmosphere andeffect for the audience.
The darkness of the fade to black also gives an intense feeling as it focuses on the record player. From our teacher's feed back and one of my friend's feed back. I decided to look on YouTube for some quiet low suspenseful music to add to the beginning, where Amber walks into the living room to get her phone. The music adds suspicion and tension. I had not used You Tube converter until I downloaded our opening sound effects. While making this opening I begun learning how to download and convert audio files. By placing the link into a YouTube converter space, converting and then downloading an audio file onto to the desktop. On YouTube I found a great piece of quiet suspenseful music, however this was copyrighted so I was unable to use it. Another piece I found was a quiet piano piece, which built tension, I used speed/duration to slow the music down and this created a lower pitch, producing a darker sound. I used the exponential fade at the beginning of the music to smoothly transition to the quiet music and another one at the end, when the record player appeared.

We also learnt how to use the black and white effect, by experimenting with different options on premiere pro. We decided that this was effective for these darker shots as it emphasises that the lights have gone out, highlighting the darkness that surrounds her, and this effect is typically used when set at night, such as in Horror films like Paranormal activity.

To increase the pace of the opening, to reach a climatic suspense. We shortened the shots and rather than focusing on Amber the whole time, we took a shot of the door handle as Amber tried to open the door frequently, to amplify the panic and anxiety she is feeling from an enclosed space that she can't escape from. We wanted to show this from a another perspective.



when creating the credits, we had to research online to have an idea on how to make the title screen. We experimented with different fonts and sizes, and begun learning how to use the different tools when creating the title screen & credits. The font that we chose had sharp edges with a certain horror style. However, when typing out the title, the font colour was green, we eventually found title properties which led to fill stroke and allowed us to change the colour of our font to white and red, by selecting a colour in each corner of the square, to achieve the right balance between the colours white and red.

As we were short on time, I managed to learn how to shorten the credits, by using the tool which decreases the length of videos, and i used the fade to black to smoothly transition into the credits and another fade to black to conclude them. I also shortened the length of the car engine audio, which created less of a gap between the next shot.

Text effect- We originally wanted to show the close up of the phone, although when reviewing the shot, the text was not very clear. Our teacher suggested we could have the text pop up over the phone like done in the Sherlock series, I developed this idea into a text effect. When trying to create the text effect I first inserted an image of a text and imported it into premiere pro and tried to line it with the phone in the shot. However this did not work  as the text kept moving and I was not able to write onto the text bubble. When looking on YouTube for a tutorial on the iPhone text effect, I came across a video, a video which explored the idea of the adobe link, including premiere pro, after effects and Photoshop. When watching the video, the video did not explain fully each step. First I opened after effects and linked the video with the close up of the phone, by right clicking the video and pressed 'replace with after effect'. I imported a green text bubble into after effects although, this had text bubble had a white back ground around it, so I opened Photoshop shown on the YouTube video and imported the green text bubble into Photoshop. Through the YouTube video the tools he was selecting were not very clear where they were or how to use them, therefore I had to explore and experiment with different text bubbles, to try and remove the background.
I removed the background shown by the You tuber, although this only removed the original background that is placed on Photoshop, not the background attached to the text bubble. I experimented with different tools to eventually find the eraser tool to remove the white background, however this only managed to remove parts of the background rather than the whole background. I tried this technique with various text bubbles, i found a text with a blue background and the background was easily removed, the text was not the right colour. So I chose a green text bubble which had to little dots in the middle and managed to learn from the YouTube video how to remove them by going over the dots with a tool that used the same colour of the text bubble to remove the dots. I imported this text into after effects and dragged it into the time line, where I aligned the text and learnt how to change the size of the text. I experimented with the different after effects tools to find the text font and wrote the text and found the size that fitted the text bubble. I managed to find a type writer effect to link in with the typing of the text on Amber's phone, and also found a time stretch which allowed me to slow down the type writer effect to perfectly link with Amber's typing on her phone. After exporting our opening, when playing the opening back it did not have the quality we were hoping for, considering the 1080 quality it was set on. From looking and experimenting with different rendering techniques of the audio, this still had no effect. Finally when i found how to render both after effects in premiere pro and after effects this allowed me to render the whole opening thus improving the quality of the final productive. During this process i learnt how to use after effects, Photoshop as well as to render in after effects and in premiere pro.

Music- We started searching for different effects in premiere to create suspenseful music for our opening . We learnt what different effects did, such as an exponential fade which we used, to make some of our audio quieter to create the perfect sound. We also found that audio gain could adjust the volume of the audio and how to make the movements faster and slower with the use of speed/duration. We learnt how to cut music and put music on different levels, increasing the volume of that level or decreasing it. For example, the music we found on YouTube, in a particular part this had the sound of guns, during the section where Amber see's the window open, the suspenseful music starts and increases until she is about to close the window. We decided to cut the music slightly leaving a gap of silence to create a false sense of security for the audience. Although, the gap was far too big and even when we let the music play for longer this would only go through to the sound of the guns. I used the different level's of audio on premiere pro to copy a part of the music and over lap the music onto a different level and using an exponential fade, this made the gap smaller and the effect that we wanted. when the window is closed and the lights turn off a loud piece of music is placed to show danger and tension.

we experimented with different audio fades such as, the exponential fade to smoothly transition to a new piece of audio. We used this many times in our opening, to create an effective audio we wanted, for example, the sound of the car engines at the beginning, an exponential fade was used to quieten the audio at the beginning to make the sound of the engines less sudden and more realistic. 

Speed Duration/ Music- We learnt how to speed up or slow down music, from utitilising Youtube, by right clicking onto the audio clip you want to adjust the speed of, press speed and duration and either decrease the number which will slow the speed of the audio click or increase the number such as 120/100 to increase the speed, with used this technique to achieve the effect we wanted when creating an unsettling atmosphere.

In the section where the record player is turned on we slightly slowed down the music to 80/100 on the speed/duration to create a creepy effect, as we see the record player turning and hear music is slowed down, this gives a unnatural feel to the scene and shows that Amber is not alone. The choice of music is a record, which we recorded live when filming the 'killer' turning on the record, we slowed the audio from this clip and replayed this throughout the opening when Amber hears music playing from upstairs. We adjusted the audio gain for each audio clip when Amber is walking closer to the record player, the audio gain is adjusted to slightly increase the volume as she becomes closer to the record player, this increases the anticipation of the opening as the volume becomes louder. At first the increased audio gain was a noticeable sharp cut, we decreased the volume slightly to create a realistic transition.
Originally are opening was 3 minutes, before Amber walks up the stairs she goes and texts her friend Violet about the music she hears and when Violet says she made sure everyone went from the party, she is concerned and then makes her way up the stairs. As there was a time restriction we had to cut out this part as we thought it was not as significant. In addition, we thought in a realistic situation the main priority would probably be to check where the music is coming from, rather than texting a friend. We cut this section, to make the opening shorter as well, When Amber hears the music she puts her food down and rather than texting her friend she goes straight upstairs to check what the noise is. To decrease the length even more, we used the speed/duration to increase the speed of Amber's walking to 120/100, originally it was particularly slow considering the music being played upstairs, we also increased this to create a realistic picture.

Audio Gain-  We have learnt that by the use of audio gain, this can increase and decrease the volume of a certain section of an audio clip. We used this many times during the editing of our opening. Such as, when we hear the sound of Katie's shoes as she walks to the kitchen, when editing this audio, this was far too loud. We managed to adjust the audio by right clicking the audio clip and decreased the volume by typing in how much needed to lower the volume by the right amount.

Another thing we have learnt is how modern day social media networks have helped through the whole production of our film opening. We have used a range of platforms from YouTube to upload our opening, to using WhatsApp group chats to organise production and share information.  In the end scenes of our opening we also utilized the use of our phones torch application to distort the lighting.