Audience Feedback

Here is some feedback I recieved from students at our school:

Chris - I thought the film was pretty good. I especially like the ending as it was an effective way to end the film. I didn't like the bit where the your watching the killers point of view, as he is walking down the stairs.

Tom - I enjoyed it, I thought tension was built up effectively especially through the use of music. I liked the music in the background. The end scene really topped off an excellent film.

James - The film is a mixture of good scenes and poor scenes. I felt the bit where the camera zoomed in on the knives was poor. It was well jerky. The end scene and the beginning scenes were quality though. The middle part of the film let you down.

Dave - Not bad, but I have seen better.

Liam - Loved it, the end scene was quality when the killer followed the victim outside then killed him. Then the hand banged against the window. That made me jump.

From the feedback I recieved I can gather that our opening scene and our final scene were good. However the middle of our film clip let us down slightly.

Evaluation Activity 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task , what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from to full product?

I feel we have learnt a lot, from doing our preliminary task to our final film. Our editing especially has improved dramatically. We were able to use continuity editing much more effectively. We included more camera shots/movements like close-ups, mid shots, point of view shots and we also did a bit of tracking. In our film clip before we have used match on action more effectively then in our preliminary task where we struggled.



As you can see from our preliminary task we struggled to use the editing software. We were unable to edit our scenes so they flowed effectively. I felt our camerawork was poor aswell. We were not able to keep the camera steady therefore zooming in for example proved difficult. We struggled to use match on action effectively as you can see from our preliminary task.

Evaluation Activity 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We have used different forms of technology in order to create are films.

These are what we used:

Adobe Premiere 8 - We used Adobe Premiere 8 to edit our film clip and our preliminary task. It is software on the computers at our school that enabled us to edit our filming effectively.

Video recorder/camera - we used these pieces of equipment to film our film clip and preliminary task.

Computer at school/home - we used the computers to edit and update our blogs regularly. We also used them to carry out extensive research.

Microphone - we used this to get better quality sound for our film clip, to make it a more immersive experience for the audience.

Tripod - we used a tripod for certain scenes in order to keep the camera steady, therefore improving the quality of the film.

Memory stick - we used this so we could save work on it and transfer it from school to home or vise versa.

Youtube - we used youtube to find videos in which we could analyse for our reasearch and planning. We also used it to upload oour film clip inorder to get it uploaded onto our blog's.

Here are some pictures of the equipment/technology we used:

Evaluation Activity 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Activity 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

We are aiming our films at teenagers from 16 to young adults in the their twenties. We have tried to make our film suitable so that it appeals to this age group.

This is Ben and Dave. Ben and Dave are both seventeen years old . They both share many of the same interests including going out with mates, football and gaming consoles. They are most likely to shop at shops such as 'topman' and' 'river island'. They also do most of there shopping on online, for example the Asos website. They are likely to listen to the new form of drum and bass - dubstep,R and B, Grime . This style of music is typical of what most teenagers listen to these days. Their favourite sort of TV programmes include teenage orientated programmes such as 'The Inbetweeners' and 'Skins'. There favourite genre of film is horror. There favourite films include Halloween and Shaun of the Dead. We based our film on Halloween therefore we would expext this age of audienece to enjoy this film as well.

They both watched the film and made a few brief comments about the film:

Dave "I thought they built up tension effectively throughout the clip. I thought the last scene was brilliant when the hand hit the door then the name of the film popped up ath the same time. Some parts of the film were fairly average, especially when the camera jalts in some of the scenes.

Ben "I liked the film clip. I thought the general plot was good and tension was built up effectively throughout. The sound track played helped build up tension. I thought the acting was good from the victim but the killers actor was poor."

Evaluation Activity 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We chose Rogue Pictures to produce our film. This is because Rogue Pictures do fairly low budget films and also specialise in horror films. This was therefore perfect for our film. They have done such films as Shaun of the Dead, Seed of Chucky, the Strangers and Doomsday.The role of the company is to produce the film to the highest quality possible. Their parent company is Universal. Rogue Pictures use Universal to distribute their films. This is because they are a multi-million pound company that have the power to do a large advertising campaign. This would enable us to distribute our film worldwide.

Using Rogue means that there is already an established audience base. this will help us in terms of getting a large audience base. People that have watched Rogue Pictures productions are likely to watch any new films they produce. This therefore be a good start for our film as we would be guaranteed to have an audience.

The money for this film would probably have come from private investors. I would want them to be British in order to maintain the British theme to this film. However Universal would be needed to distribute the film worldwide to maximise revenue.

Our film would be distributed in a similar way to Slumdog Millionaire. They slowly released the film in England and India first then gradually, as revenue increased went world wide. They didn't spend too much money at the start, but gradually increased. This the way in which we would distribute our film. We don't want to spend to much on advertising as we wouldn't have the funds available.

Evaluation Activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our main character is the killer. He wears a hockey mask with blood on, an army jacket and a pair of dark jeans. We wanted our killer to look realistic because in some horror films that killer looks unrealistic therefore making the film less effective. We haven;t really based our killer on any character from other horror films. However we have taken ideas of costume from films such as halloween where the killer is wearing a mask.


This is the killer from Halloween. We have used a similar mask and our actor Alex is of a similar build and geight to the killer from halloween.

Evaluation Activity 1 - In what ways does your media productc use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The title of the film - we decided to name our film 'knock knock' after much thought and deliberation. We chose this because it is a short and catchy title for the film that we hope would entice the audience into watching it. It also fits in extremely well with the actual storyline, as the killer in the film knocks on the door before killing the victim. This is the main reason why we chose to name our film 'knock knock'

Setting/location - we filmed at a member of our groups house as it suited our storyline and genre. It is quite a small house which we felt would help in creating quite a tense and eery atmosphere. This was therefore perfect for our opening scene which sole purpose is to keep the audience on edge. Horror films often start in someones home with a murder for example the film 'Scream'.

Costumes and props - The killer was wearing a ice hockey mask covered in blood stains. He was also wearing an army jacket with dark jeans. The mask is crucial as it helps to cover up the real identity of the killer, therefore the audience will carry on watching the whole film to find out the killers identity. We felt that the mysterious characteristics of a killer is used in a lot of horror films, therefore we thought that we would use this technique.
The victim was dressed fairly casually as he was coming back after a night out at a party. We wanted the victim to look a bit drunk and dis-orientated as we felt this would make him look more vulnerable to the audience.
The knife was the main prop that we used as it was used for the murder scene. Again a stabbing scene is used in many horror films for example 'Halloween'

Camerawork and editing - We used a handheld cam for a scene in the film, as we were trying to get the audience to be on edge as we were filming from the killers point of view. We also used canted angles when filming the victim as we wanted the audience to see that he is in danger, and again to create a tense mood. The editing is fairly simple, as we were just trying to cut between the killer and the victim through the use of continuity editing. This was to show the audience the link between the two characters.

Title font and style - We used a bold font, coloured in red. This is because red has connotations of danger and death therefore it fits in perfectly with our film.

Story and how the opening sets it up - The opening sets up the whole story perfectly as the story is that the killer commits murders constantly in the same fashion as what happened in the opening scene. This therefore sets the audience up perfectly for the rest of the film.

Genre and how the opening scene suggests it - We have tried to use all the media techniques including camerawork, sound, mise-en-scene and editing in the opening scene to create a tense and eery atmosphere to the audience to show this is an horror film.

Time management

We have finished all of our filming and editing. It took us roughly 5-6 hours to finish all the editing, as we struggled to use the editing software. It took us about 4-5 hours int total to film all the footage needed.

Audience profiling

I have done some research into the type of people that would like our film. I asked people of different ages what there favourite genre is . I did this to find out what sort of audience would watch our genre of film.

10-20 years of age: I asked five people in this age category. Four people said that horror is there favourite genre and one person said that gangster is there favourite genre.

20-40 years of age: I asked five people in this age category. Three people said that action is their favourite genre. One person said that horror is their favourite genre. And one person said comedy is their favourite genre.

40+: I asked five people in this age category. Three people said that drama is their favourite genre. And two people said that romance is their favourite genre.

From my research I can come to the conclusion that people aged 10-20 are most likely to be the target audience for my film.

Knock Knock

Production Company - Rogue Pictures

We have decided to use the institution Rogue Pictures for our production company because they are the main production for creating horror films. They have created films like The last house on the left, Shaun of the dead, Seed of chucky and The Strangers.
Most of the films that they have produced our made on a low budget. They have ranged between $1,000,000 and $45,000,000. This is the perfect amount of money that we feel would be needed to produce our film.

Time management

We started our filming Saturday. We managed to do the opening 30 seconds of our film clip. It took us a lot of time setting up the props and location. We also found it hard to get the lighting contrast right. This was the main reason why it took us so long to film 30 seconds worth of footage. We also had to make slight alterations to the actual storyline as we aim across certain problems. For example we were unable to get a gas mask for the killer to wear, so now we are using an ice hockey mask covered in red blood.

Storyboard

Name of film

'Knock Knock' - we felt this was an appropriate name for the film as it fits in perfectly with the storyline as the killer knocks on the door before killing his victim.

Costumes/ Props

Costumes:

Alex (killer) - he will be wearing an army jacket, black jeans and military boots. This is to make him look scary and mysterious. We want this character to have a sense of mystery about him, to engage the audience.

Joe (victim) - he will be wearing a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms as he would be coming back from football training.

Props:

-Knife (used in the stabbing scene)
-Television (used in the scene where the killer is watching an horror movie)
-Phone (used in the scene where the victim is talking to his girlfriend)
-Gas mask (worn by the killer)
-Sports bag (the victim has it on him as he comes through the door in the opening scene)

New Location

We have decided to film in one of our group members house. It is a small, derlict house therefore a perfect location for the film. It has an old, rustic look about it which will help to create a tense, scary atmosphere. This is crucial as the aim of our film is to build tension and anxiety at the beginning of the clip.

Through analysing other other films, we now understand how important the location is in terms of setting a certain type of mood for the audience.

Cast

Joseph Goodman - Victim

Alex Fennemore - Killer

Anthony Callari (me) - Director

We are only using the three members in our group to participate in our film, instead of getting other actors to do the job. We feel this will be easier and better for the film as everyone in our group is committed and will know exactly what to do, whereas getting better actors may improve it but we cannot rely on there commitment.

Time management

We have been using the camera, microphone and tripod and going round the school practicing filming techniques like zooming in and out and learning how to track with the camera properly.

We are now going to start filming out of school and then once we did we still start the editing process in school.

Shot list

-Medium shot of the killer in the living room watching the scrambled television

-Close up of the killer putting on the hockey mask followed by a zoom in on the side of the killers face in the dark, therefore not revealing his identity.

-Medium shot of the victim coming in the door, at a canted angle.

-Camera then tracks killer walking down the stairs through a point of view shot

-camera tracks the victim going into the kitchen

-quick medium shot of the killer

-Close up of the knife rack where one is missing, after zooming in.

-Two shot with the killers head appearing behind the victim and then stabbing him.

-Close up of the victims hand hitting the door.

16 year old response to questionnaire

Gender? Male

Age? 16

What is your favourite genre? Horror

What is your favourite film? Saw

Do you think the opening scene is impotant? Yes

If yes, why? Because you watch a film depending on the opening scene as it should draw your attention.

Do you prefer cinema or DVD? DVD

Questionnaire

Gender? .................................................


Age? ....................................................


What is your favourite genre? ...........................


What is your favourite film?.............................


Do you think the opening scene of a film is important?
........................................................

If yes, why? ...........................................
........................................................

Do you prefer watching a film at the cinema or DVD?
........................................................

Plot for opening scene

The scene starts off with the killer in an empty room with nothing but a TV where he he is watching a scrambled television. Beside the killer ice hockey mask which he uses to hide his identity. The victim comes through the door downstairs and calls his mums name asking if she's home. The killer goes slowly down the stairs. He watches the victim walk past into the kitchen area. The victim has a glass of water then goes to have a shower. The killer knocks on the front door then goes into one of the side rooms. The victim opens the door and steps out into the porch. The killer follows him then stabs him repeadetley.

Halloween Opening Scene

The opening is filmed from the point of view of the killer. A handheld camera is used to film it. This helps to build up tension and suspense for the audience. We are thinking of using this sort of style in our film as we believe it is an effective way of building up tension. However, when we film our opening scene we will try and use more editing techniques than halloween have used. Mise-en-scene has been used very effectively in this opening scene. The use of lighting is crucial in creating a scary atmosphere. This is something we will have to think about when deciding on what lighting to use. The female actor being the victim is very usual for horror films as they appear vulnerable. We will try and get a female actor in to act as the victim to make the scenario more realistic.

We are going to use Halloween as our style model taking ideas from it and incorporating it into our film, as we feel halloween is a successful horror film

Change in our final decision

We have decided to change the genre of our film from gangster to horror. There are many reasons why we have to decided to change it. First of all after analysing our plot we felt it would be hard to create a realistic gangster films with shootings and loads of special effects. We feel that a horror film would be more easy to emulate. Therefore this will make our film more realistic. Creating an eery and tense atmosphere can be done with just diagetic sounds like leaves rustling. It will be much more easier and effective to create a horror film with this atmosphere to entice the audience. We have analysed various horror films like scream and saw. These films use sound particularly effectively to build up tension. They also use close-up of facial expressions to show the audience that particular person is in danger.
The main reason for this sudden change is we feel the equipment and actors at our disposal is more suited to a horror style movie rather than a gangster style movie.
The two main chaarcters in our film will be a killer and a victim. This is typical of most horror movies. Whereas if we did a gangster movie we would need more actors as there would have been two gangs.

Sound

We will use mostly diagetic sounds in our film as we don't have the resources to create pieces of music to fit in with the action. This will mean we will have to put more emphasis into other areas like the acting and stage set-up in order to create a certain mood and tension without music. However the diagetic sound could help add to the realism of the film. This therefore could entice the audience as it seems more realistic and authentic.

We however will try and create a piece of music to go with our end credits. This is totally dependent on if we can use the appropriate facilities to create a piece of music.

We have decided to rate our film as a 15. This is because we will have some violent scenes that are not siutable for a younger audience. We are also aiming are film at teenagers therefore they are more likely to go and see a film which has a film rating of 15.

Mise en scene

Costume - we are hopin that we will have suits for the main characters. This is so it will be realistic as we are doing a gangster film.

Lighting - We are planning on filming at night therefore we are going to use very dim lighting if possible to create quite a tense atmosphere.

Props - we plan to use many props including suit case, fake money, car and fake guns. This again is to add to the realism off the film.

180 degree rule

The 180 degree rule is a crucial filming method used in the film industry. I have included this video as we are going to incorporate this method into our film.

Media terms

I feel these techiniques are things we need to try and incorporate into are film clip.

Editing

Shot/reverse shot - is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Eyeline match - is a popular editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, there will then be a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.

Graphic match - is any cut that emphasizes spatio-temporal continuity and thus, contrasting the conspicuous and abrupt discontinuity of a "jump cut," forms the basis for continuity ('invisible') editing, such as the ubiquitous use of "match on action." In this more general usage, a match cut would thus contrast with jump cuts most immediately and form part of the "reality effect" of continuity editing rather than the visible fractures of spatial, temporal, graphic, and cause-and-effect continuity of jump cuts. Even within continuity editing, though, the match cut is a contrast with cross-cutting between actions in two different locations that are occurring simultaneously or parallel editing, which draws parallels or contrasts between two different time-space locations.

Jump cut - is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit causes the subject of the shots to appear to "jump" position in a discontinuous way. For this reason, jump cuts are considered a violation of classical continuity editing, which aims to give the appearance of continuous time and space in the story-world by de-emphasizing editing. Jump cuts, in contrast, draw attention to the constructed nature of the film.

Crosscutting - is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the case.

Cutaway/insert - is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cutback to the first shot.

Dissolve - is a gradual transition from one image to another. In film, this effect is created by controlled double exposure from frame to frame; transiting from the end of one clip to the beginning of another.

Fade-in/Fade out - A fade-out is a gradual transformation of an image to black; whereas a fade-in is the opposite. A dissolve is a simultaneous fade-out of the shot being cut from, and fade-in of the shot being cut to. The dissolve can be said to show a short ellipsis; whereas a fade-out means a long one.

Wipe - is a gradual spatial transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. A simple edge, an expanding circle, or the turning of a page are all examples.

Long take - is an uninterrupted shot in a film which lasts much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general, usually lasting several minutes. It can be used for dramatic and narrative effect if done properly, and in moving shots is often accomplished through the use of a dolly or Steadicam.

Camera shots/movemtents

Long shot - A long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. It has been suggested that long-shot ranges usually correspond to approximately what would be the distance between the front row of the audience and the stage in live theatre. It is now common to refer to a long shot as a "wide shot" because it often requires the use of a wide-angle lens. When a long shot is used to set up a location and its participants in film and video, it is called an establishing shot.

Close-up - a shot taken from a close distance in which the scale of
the object is magnified, appears relatively large and fills
the entire frame to focus attention and emphasize its
importance

Medium shot - refers to a conventional camera shot filmed from a
medium distance; although it is difficult to precisely
define, it usually refers to a human figure from the waist.

Two shot - a medium or close-up camera shot of two people (often
in dialogue with each other), framed from the chest up.

High angle - a shot in which the subject is filmed from above and the
camera points down on the action, often to make the
subject small, weak and vulnerable.

Low angle - a shot in which the subject is filmed directly from below
and the camera points up at the action, to make the
subject appear larger, more formidable and menacing, or
perhaps tall and regal.

Possible locations for film clip

One possible location is this abandoned car park.

Time management

We practiced filimg in our preliminary task, however came across many problems. Therefore we decided to spend time practicing how to use the editing software so when we need to edit our actuall film we will be prepared.

Preliminary Filming Task

We created this short film to practice various techniques including camera movement, editing, mise-en-scene and sound. We tried to incorporate these techniques as best as we could. However as this was are first time doing a film clip like this we did encounter many problems.

We managed to film it with a video recorder with relative ease. We included close-up shots, over the shoulder shots, and long shots. Are camera man also tried to incorporate the usage of the 180 degree rule. I feel he did this fairly sucessfully. I feel we managed to capture emotion through the usage of camera shots and movement. However due to the actors at are disposole it could of been improved dramatically.

Due to the lack of props and costume we could not use mise-en-scene as a major technique. This is a factor we will need to improve on when making are proper film clip. We will need to think about costume, lighting, props and location to add to the realism and to add tension or dispear.

We had extreme difficulties with the editing. It was our first time using the editing software and we struggled to come to grips with it. We have learnt from our mistakes and I think our actual film clip will benefit from this. We also had problems with the sound as are camera man did not think there was a mic on the video camera.

Overall I am fairly disapointed with are preliminary task. We encountered many difficulties and problems. We will have to make improvements in our real task and I feel we can improve dramatically.

Scream

Scream uses intersting techniques to build up tension and suspense. It combines camera movement, mise en scene, editing and sound to create representation and makes it exciting for the audience. It has given me ideas for my film by how it build up tension and suspense as horror is a genre ime thinkin of doing.

When we meet the girl in the opening scene we immidatlet now she is the main character and is the one in danger due to her appearence. She has blonde hair and looks small and fragile. This straight away suggests to the audience that she is going to be the victim as she is represented as vulnerable through the use of mise en scene.

The producer use diagetic sound to create a scary tense atmosphere. The sounds of crickets in the garden and the amplified sound of the swing creeking adds huge effect to the scene. It suggests to the audience that she is alone in the middle of nowhere. This then adds a tense atmosphere as the audience is being built up to something bad happening. There is fairly tense scary music played as well in various parts of the scene again to build up tension and anxiety.

Various close ups of the girls face are used. This is to show the fear and fright in her face. It suggests to the audience that she is in extreme danger. The producer has also used camera movement to create tension and anxiety. He has used a lot of slow takes to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

The editing throughout this scene is at a fairly fast pace. This is to keep the audience on edge and it wants you to realise the girls life is quickly passing by and in extreme danger.

I feel some of these techniques used will assist me when makeing my film as I could try and implicate some of then if I choose to do a horror movie.

Goodfellas

Possible genre for for our film as gangster movies are more interesting and exciting to make.

Time managment

We have been analysing films and trailers in order to help us decide what sort of film we want to create. We have carried out research in order to help us make our final decision. We have spent 4-5 hours in total in the planning process.

The Godfather

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The Godfather is a classic gangster film. It is emotional yet extremley violent. I feel the aim of the film is to put the point accross of family values and power. It makes the audience realise how important family, power and most importantly respect is to a traditional mobster family

Brief outline of story - The story starts as Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia, oversees his daughter's wedding. His son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Through Michael's life the nature of the family business becomes clear. The business of the family is just like the head of the family, kind and benevolent to those who give respect, but given to ruthless violence whenever anything stands against the good of the family. Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don't want to follow the old ways and look out for community and "family". An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don's influence to further his plan. Vito Corleone ends up diening and his son Michael takes the helm of the Don.