Evaluation- 'Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you've learnt in the progression form it to your full product?'

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

 

 

Evaluation- 'How did you attract/address your audience?'

For this question I interviewed members of my target audience who had watched my film and asked them how they were attracted to my product they said;

"I liked the theme of a broken family that was shown as I was able to relate to it because I am a mother myself"- Caroline Malkin (40)

"I liked the blood, gore and the creepy character of Poppy as I find these genre conventions very entertaining and gripping."- Hannah Hollins (16) 

"I liked the dominant female characters as it helped me to relate more to this film than I do normally to Thrillers as they normally have a cast dominated by men."- Veronica Johnston Jones (36)

"I liked the fact that this film was a psychological Thriller as I much prefer this sub-genre to others (i.e Action or Crime)- Emily Jeffery (21)

Evaluation- 'Who would be the audience for your Media product?'

Evaluation- what kind of Media institution might distribute your product and why?

Here are the 'Go Animate' animations that explain the roles of institutions, distributors, the pros and cons of different promotion techniques and which one would be best for our product;

Evaluation question 3 (part 1) by Lucy Malkin on GoAnimate
Evaluation Question 3 (Part 2) by Lucy Malkin on GoAnimate
Evaluation Question 3 (Part 3) by Lucy Malkin on GoAnimate

Evaluation- 'How does your Media product represent particular social groups?'

Here is the directors commentary which is my response to this question; 

Evaluation- 'In what ways does your Media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real Media products?'

                                                                                                                                                

        

Thriller Opening Sequence

Audience Feedback- Peer Assesement

Here is the 'Go Animate' animation that highlights the feedback given to us from other year 12 AS Media students that have recently viewed our product;


Audience Feedback from peers by Lucy Malkin on GoAnimate

Editing Review- Audio

Through-out the editing process, we have made a variety of changes and additions to our sound. these include;

Slowing down sound- we slowed down the voiceover of the mother speaking so it would fit correctly within the footage and also for dramatic effect. We thought that it would build up tension and create a sombre atmosphere if she were to speak slower.

Reversing sound- in the second half of our Ident we decided to play the non-diegetic sound of a Chinese Cymbal in reverse. We have done this in order to create a sense of disorientation that was established through the 360 degree spin of the top of a tree. We picked the sound of a Cymbal because it helps attract the audiences attention while still sounding subtle.

Transitions- we decided to put transitions into every piece of sound we used (with particularly evident ones in the 'Promises to Keep' soundtrack. We did this because we wanted the sound to progress before reaching its loudest volume, this effect was achieved through adding transitions

Splitting sound- in our second minute of footage we decided to include the 'Steel and Seething' soundtrack and then split it into two halves. We did this because we wanted the climax of the soundtrack to fall into a particular piece of  footage in order to correctly build up tension and drama.

Audience Feedback- Year 13's

Today, we recieved audience feedback from some year 13 A2 Media students. This was helpful as it allowed a fresh pair of eyes to evaluate our product, meaning that they could spot improvments and problems that we hadn't noticed. Here are some notes on what they said;

    Improvments

• "Make sure it doesn't turn into a horror, as the little girl looks like a conventional character you'd see in a horror film". When we asked how we could resolve this problem, she suggested that we choose a soundtrack that is more conventional of the Thriller genre
• "In the scene of the daughter in the garden, include a child-like soundtrack to create a chilling atmosphere"
• "How will you be ending your product? I think you should link back to the mother/daughter relationship."

     Good points

• "I like the shot of the worms in her hand, it really does look creepy. Which means the technique was effective"
• "The use of opacity in the teddy bear shot its good, it confuses the audience"
• "Using a voiceover in the mothers scene is a good idea, it will allow the audience to understand the plot better. And it's a convention of genre."

Editing Review- Video

During the editing our final product, we have made a variety of creative decisions concerning;

• Lighting- we have changed the saturation and exposure levels in our ident sequence and throughout our first minute of footage. This has allowed the audience to be able to see the action clearer. Also, in perticular scenes,we have dimmed the exposure in order to create specific connotations. For example, we darkened the exposure in the ident sequence in order to connote mystery, the unknown and a general atmosphere of darkness
• Speed- we have also altered the pace at which certain shots play for. We have slowed some down to emphasise an important object or person. In contrast, we have sped them up in order to cause confusion and disorientation.
• Opacity- we have changed the opacity of several shots in our product. We have done this in order to confuse and disorientate our audience.
• Transitions- we have used a variety of different transitions through-out or product, but I feel that the most effective of thses was the cross dissolve we added between a master shot of the girl walking and a zoom of the stream. We have done this to maintain the pace and continuity, which is difficult as all our shots are fairly short.
• Effects & Filters- we have heavily edited the second minute of footage in our product. For example, we have added flashes and changed the filter to 'Numerik'. We have done this in order to represent the darkness of the life the daughter is now living and to emphasise the alert nature of her personality

Here is a screenshot from our footage on Final Cut Pro that demonstates the effects of our creative choices;

Change in Opacity

Change in speed

Change in lighting

Change in transition

Title sequence

Change in scale

The filming process in photos

Through-out the October half term, we were given    the task of filming the footage that we would want to use in our final product. Here are some photos to give a better insight into our filming process;


 

  
While filming our first scene of the mother in her bedroom



My peer Molly Painter analysing our ident footage


Me fixing the tripod in place to ensure the camera was positioned correctly


Our Ident logo 'H.W Productions'

The Final Idea

Ident Research

    The Disney Ident

   

• This Ident conveys a dream-like and whimsical  atmosphere via the palace 
• The silver writing suggests treasure and something precious and valuable
•  This image is also made to look picturesque via the pink starry sky
• This ident links to its genre (Childrens fantasy) because it largely links to a fairytale already because of the big palace. So, without watching the film at all, the consumer already has an idea of its story. 

The Warner Brothers Ident

• The dark colour scheme foreshadows death, mystery and an element of the unknown. It also suggests that the plot might be quite dark.
• The grey clouds suggests that something is being concealed or hidden, which are ideas and themes that are normally apparent in Thrillers
• The stone-like logo connotes cold-ness and something quite hard and un-comprimising
• This logo links to its Thriller genre as it conveys themes and messages that are commonly found within films of this genre; mystery, death, the unknown etc...

 

Photographic Storyboard

Final Storyboard

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risk Assesement

Area of film or Description of scene/shot number	Hazard	Control measure already in place	A	B	C	Further Action Required	Person Responsible
Valley Drive woods   Bedroom     Garden     Rudyard track/ River Churnet	Tripping over branch Tripping over cable wires Getting mud in open cuts   Falling in river as a result of steep ground	Being aware of unstable ground Watching where you step Checking for cuts before proceeding to muddy areas Staying clear of steep or unsteady ground	1     1     1       1	4     2     2       2	2-4     2-4     2-4       2-4	Remove the hazard from the filming area   Remove all loose wires or household items from floor   Wash the cut in order to remove mud     Check for injuries in the person who has fallen	Everybody on set     Lucy Malkin, Meg Dawson   Chelsea Fearn, Lucy Malkin     Everybody on set

Final Shooting Script

No#	Shot	Sound	Duration
1	Pan of woods- zoom to tree Location- Valley Drive woods	Ident soundtrack	4 seconds
2	Close up shot of ident ‘HW’, transition of ‘productions’ moving over the screen	Ident soundtrack continues	3 seconds
3	Situational titles- names slide on screen: ‘Molly Painter’, ‘Lucy Malkin’ and ‘Chelsea Fearn’	Opening Soundtrack	4 seconds
4	Situational titles on date- 12.09.2012. Become abstract titles over bedroom setting	Opening soundtrack fails as titles become abstract	3 seconds
5	Location- woman’s bedroom: daytime Titles fade to wide shot of mother at dressing table	Soundtrack completely fades out	6 seconds
6	Close up of mother putting on lipstick (shot with reflection from mirror)	Diegetic background sound	3 seconds
7	Over the shoulder shot of mother looking at pendant necklace	Voiceover of mother talking	3 seconds
8	Mid shot of mother looking directly at her reflection, picks up photograph	Voiceover continues	2 seconds
9	Master shot of mother moving towards window	Voiceover continues	3 seconds
10	Mid shot of mothers face from the side (looking out at photograph by window)	Ambient background sound	2 seconds
11	POV Shot of mother looking at photograph	Silence	2 seconds
12	Over the shoulder shot of mother looking out the window (focus pull from the mother to the window)	Silence continues	3 seconds
13	Establishing shot/high angle looking down at daughter in the garden	Ambient sound- wind blowing trees	2 seconds
14	Location- garden Master shot of garden, shows the girl playing in the soil (blanket and snacks included in the frame)	Ambient sound- wind blowing trees	3 seconds
15	Canted angle of daughter foraging in the dirt	Diegetic sound- digging	2 seconds
16	Extreme close up of daughter with muddy hands holding worms	Ambient sound- wind blowing trees	3 seconds
17	Low angle looking up at window, mother’s not there	Ambient sound- wind blowing trees	2 seconds
18	Long take of girl grabbing string and heading towards bush	Diegetic sound- leaves rustling	5 seconds
19	Wide shot of teddy being dragged through bush	Diegetic sound- leaves rustling	2 seconds
20	Title sequence: Situational titles- name of extract ‘Attachment’	Opening soundtrack	2 seconds
21	Situational titles- New date: 11.11.2013	Opening soundtrack	2 seconds
22	Establishing shot and pan of field/woods	Music Cue	3 seconds
23	Reverse zoom from stream- to surrounding area of stream	Music Cue	4 seconds
24	Master shot of girl hiding/scurrying behind tree	Music Cue Ambient sound- wind blowing trees	4 seconds
25	Extreme close up on the girls eyes- integrated with teddy’s eye	Music Cue	2 seconds
26	Close up of teddy drowning in the stream	Music Cue	2 seconds
27	High angle of girl moving towards water	Music Cue	3 seconds
28	Close up of stone hitting the water and making a ripple	Music Cue	2 seconds
29	Close up of pendant on stone	Music Cue	2 seconds
30	Low angle of leaves blowing in the wind	Music Cue	2 seconds
31	Close up of stick being sharpened by a stone to be used as a weapon	Music Cue	2 seconds
32	Mid shot of girl in tree about to throw a weapon	Music Cue	3 seconds
33	Close up of blood and leaves floating in river	Music Cue	2 seconds
34	Extreme close up of blood at the end of the tip of weapon	Music Cue	2 seconds
35	Long take zooming out from a close up of the girls face into an establishing/Ariel shot of the stream and its surroundings	Music Cue	6 seconds