Before producing my film, I looked into other existing movies in the horror genre. More specifically, films about werewolves. This helped me to gain understanding of the common features used in such films.
After researching existing werewolf movies, I discovered that the majority of them use the opening few minutes to establish scene and character in a simplistic manner, and contain little horror. As a result, I ensured that the opening two minutes of my movie would follow this trend. Another common feature among the werewolf films I researched along with many other horror films is that the cause of the horror (i.e. the werewolf in this case) is not usually visible to the camera during the early stages of the movie. However, this would be of little concern to my product, as shots involving the werewolf will be strictly from the creature’s point of view, and the audience will never actually see the werewolf. We got this idea from many low-budget B-Movies, who often shoot in this style to save expenditure.
I had to find away to differentiate between shots from the werewolf’s point of view and normal shots as to avoid confusion between the audience. To do this I decided the werewolf shots should be in a different colour tone to the rest of the shots. During post-production, I made the decision to display the werewolf shots in a sepia-like colour tone, and the normal shots in greyscale (black and white) The only shot to be shown in colour during the first two minutes of my film will be one establishing shot when the two main characters make their first appearance.
Normal Shot:
Wolf Shot:
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents the typical teenager by portraying stereotypical teenage actions and image. I decided to have the characters dress like typical teenagers; casually and stereotypical to gender, for example, Ryan Lott (male lead actor) was wearing a baseball jacket, polo shirt and jeans, which are considered to be masculine clothes, and Chloe May (female lead actor) was wearing a floral print dress, which is very feminine.
My film begins with two people driving to a secluded location for a romantic evening. This is something that only teenagers and young adults would probably do, especially at this time of day. By portraying typical teenagers wearing typical teenage clothes and doing typical teenage things is how we have represented this particular social group.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe the film has the potential to be distributed as a Hollywood Blockbuster. The advantages of this would be the high budget that can be used for highly technologically advanced equipment, highly qualified production staff and better known actors etc... However, I believe that if it were a low budget independent film, in the style of American B-Movies, it would have more of a gritty feel to it. Also, I feel that the technique of only using point of view shots for the werewolf is more suited to the low budget, independent films, because if the use of CGI was available (as it would be for a film with the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster), I would be tempted to scrap the idea of the point of view shots and include as computer generated image of the werewolf. This might have its advantages, nevertheless, it would dissipate the meaning of the film’s namesake, Per Oculos Lupus (Through the Eyes of the Wolf)
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
My media product would be aimed at both males and females aged 18 or older. What I have learned from talking to a range of people who enjoy horror films is that they are mostly watched by the younger generation (mid-late teens and those in their early-mid twenties). Although my film has been rated 18, there is no guarantee that it will prevent those under the age of 18 from viewing it. However, this is the case with the majority of 18 rated media.
I believe that the audience of my film would be between their late teens and mid twenties. The reason for this is that the characters themselves are quite young, meaning a younger audience would find it easy to relate to them, whereas an older audience may not.
I have had feedback from a variety of people about my film. There were many positive comments; which was highly reassuring, although, some aspects, such as the use of different colour tones created mixed feelings among some viewers. Here are their comments below:
- Geoffrey William Eric Parsons - It was a good film and I liked it. Made me excited for more!
- Marcus Kinsey - It had nice camera work to it.
- Thomas Mcnamara - The song makes it! Black and white effect is a bit confusing.
- Jake Wilson - Music really fitted with the intro, it set the scene nicely. Lots of camera angles which gave a different perspective of the scene. And the yellow tint on some shots clearly identified a different pair of eyes on the scene.
- Tim Astley - Very well lit, gives an eerie sense!
- Adam Gravely – It was a brilliant beginning for a film. Although I do think the sepia tone on some of the shots was a bit heavy going.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience with the use of a film poster that I created. I feel this reflected the genre and subject of my product effectively. My film poster created interest among the prospective audience, which lead them to watch my film.
I addressed my audience in a way that involved them being able to relate to the main characters. This is because my target audience is of a similar age to the characters in my film. To ensure the audience was able to relate to the characters, I decided to cast the lead roles as obvious stereotypes; the typical teenagers, that young people of today would understand.
Another way I was able to address the audience was through the soundtrack of the opening two minutes. I chose music that is popular with young people fitting the stereotype that was portrayed in my product, thus enabling the audience to further relate to the film as a whole.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used a variety of different technologies throughout the creation of media product; many of which I have never used before I began the course. This caused me to have to learn how to use this equipment while working on my product through a basis of trial and error.
The equipment and software I used to construct my media product was:
- Apple iMac
- Canon Camera
- Jessops Tripod
- Blogger.com
- iMovie
- iDVD
- Cubase Studio 5
- Microsoft Publisher
- Microsoft Word
- PhotoScape Photo Editing Software
Apple iMac:
The Apple iMac was the primary piece of equipment I used during the creation of my film. It was also the tool that I was least familiar with, as I have only been used to working with PCs before now. The iMacs contained all of the relevant software for the post-production process, such as:
- iMovie (OSX Snow Leopard)
- iDVD (OSX Snow Leopard)
iMovie: Post-production was the most heavily involved part of the creation of my product. I used iMovie to order the frames that make up my film, add transitions between frames, insert title screens for the credits, attach the soundtrack and adjust the volume and colour levels to the clips. As I wanted my film to have two main colour schemes; one for the wolf’s point of view and one for the rest of the shots, I had to choose two distinctive colour tones. I decided to go for a sepia-style tone for the wolf’s point of view and a greyscale tone for the rest of the shots. The iMacs made it very simple to change the colour settings.
Black and White Colour Effect Settings:
Sepia Tone Colour Settings:
iDVD: The purpose for the use of iDVD in my product was to burn the final film to a DVD and create the menu layout on the disc. At first I found this difficult to use, as I was unsure how to transfer the final film from iMovie to iDVD. I had to resort to asking my teacher (who is more experienced with Apple products) on how I should go about doing this. Eventually I managed to solve this problem.
Cubase Studio 5: Cubase is a piece of advanced music production software that I used to edit the soundtrack for my film. After I had chosen the song I wanted to use for the opening part of my product, I decided it would sound best if it did not contain the vocal part. At first I was unsure on how I could do this, but then I had the idea of using Cubase to loop the introduction and repeat it throughout the time I wanted the soundtrack to be played for. This was a fairly simple task because I am quite familiar with this software as I use it for my Music Technology AS Level work. It proved to be an effective solution to this problem. I believe that having a good quality soundtrack is an integral part in the production of an effective final film.
Cubase Screenshot:
Microsoft Publisher: I used Microsoft Publisher for the creation of the film poster, as it was the only software I possessed that allowed simple image manipulation on a blank page. First, I pasted a plain black background onto a blank page in publisher. Then, on top of that, I pasted the background image in the centre of the page. On top of this image, I then placed the film title, cast members and certificate information. By layering the different components, I was able to get an effective final film poster.
Microsoft Publisher Screenshot:
PhotoScape: PhotoScape is free picture editing software that allows basic photo alteration and manipulation. I used it to add colour and border effects to the picture I wanted to use for the film poster. To begin with, I converted the picture from colour to greyscale, then increased the contrast slightly, to give the image a sharper feel to it. I then added a gradient border around the edges of the picture to make it fade into the black background when mounted on the poster. Although I didn’t do much editing to the picture, I found it was a simple yet effective way to create a poster which competently reflects the genre and subject of my final film.
PhotoScape Screenshot:
7) Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in progression from it to the full product?
The intention behind the preliminary task was to become familiar with continuity editing and camera shots and angles. I believe that without undertaking this task, I would't know where to start when it comes to ensuring continuity is maintained when editing a collection of clips together. The preliminary task also helped me to get familiar with the equipment I would be using for my final product, such as video cameras, tripods, the iMacs and all the software on them I would be using in the editing process. Before I started Media Studies at AS Level, I didn't have a clue how a movie was put together. I just took it for granted that someone just made it happen. I now understand that it's no easy task, and plenty of organisation is needed in order to be able to produce a good final product. I have learned that it is so easy to make continuity errors (far too easy in my opinion!). Just the simplest thing like in one shot, reaching for a door handle with your left hand, and in the next shot actually opening it with your right; is a very easy mistake to make that can have dramatic consequences on the impact the film might make on its audience. If mistakes like this are this easy, I dread to think what's involved when filming high speed car chases or intense fight scenes!
Overall, I feel I have learned so much over the last few months. From something as simple as how to work a video camera, to actually producing the first two minutes of a movie, covering all aspects of the research, planning and construction behind it all.
