Final Chosen Group Poster

Evaluation (Sean Martin)

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

     Throughout our media product our group researched on the different conventions of media, such as; learning certain camera techniques, lighting techniques and sound editing. We began by researching certain continuity conventions and started to implement these conventions into our film. We came across different rules like the “match on action” and “180-degree” line which helped make our finished media product appear more professional and made it flow much better. This was also increased through the use of cut and fade transitions to represent a passage of time within the film.

The screenshot above shows elliptical editing which was used to speed up the process of the main character (Adrian) walking towards the car park

We decided early on to create a film in the horror genre, with this; we set out to research on the certain paradigms that a horror film would use. We made a list of these paradigms in order to fulfil the nature of the genre and what people would expect from it, this included; having a dark lighted aesthetic, intensity through the use of chase scenes and having an overall eerie atmosphere to the film. The combination of these different elements and paradigms would allow us to create different kinds of audience pleasure within our film. For example, the chase scenes would keep the audience of our film interested and involved with not only what is going off on screen, but also cause them to have more sympathy for the characters involved. This would create a plot that sticks with the audience and also a more immersive world for the audience to participate in.

Though the overall tone of the film is serious, our group decided to add references to other films that have inspired us as film-makers. The prime example of this would be at the very beginning of our film, when the character (Adrian)’s fellow worker greets him by saying “Yo! Adrian!” This is a slight reference to the Rocky series in which Rocky Balboa expresses his delight with winning the fighting tournament. Even though Rocky isn't a horror film, we decided to adopt this line and use it as a reference to one of our favourite films, but put it in a different context.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgScBiXkO9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K0elYv8O48M

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We first conducted a questionnaire to search out for certain paradigms that people would expect from a horror genre. Such as lighting, suspense and an evil character etc. This allowed us to create a much more refined story with multiple characters that could be explored.

We explored a lot of different creative decisions in the process of creating our film, due to audience feedback. Firstly, we used colour correction when editing the film. This included adding black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to give the film a more cinematic look and also adding filters in certain places to give certain scenes a more eerie feel to them.

 This screenshot above shows the main character (Adrian) alone in the dark with a bright light, this light draws the audience’s attention to the door in which Adrian is about to walk through.

The audience responded well to how we decided to end our film, it closes with the demon stalking Adrian again, yet, nothing else is shown as the camera fades to black. This is left open for viewers to interpret what they think might have happened.

4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Firstly, through the use of Panasonic HD1000 cameras, we were able to shoot our entire film in 1080p.

This means a greater quality of video for our audience and makes our final product appear more professional. Once we had all the film we required, we then edited our film on a Mac using Final Cut Express. This software allowed us to cut all unnecessary video from our film and add a whole range of different effects to make our product appear even more professional looking through the use of; filters, transitions and audio editing, in which we could add samples of sounds, for example, the “banshee scream" from the demon halfway through the film.

Whilst we were filming our product we were simultaneously updating our progress through the use of Blogger, in which we gave progress updates and uploaded other background information and research. This stems from title sequence researching to researching the whole “short film” genre as a whole to find certain conventions that we could adopt into our film.

We also used various other applications during the development of our film.  One example of this would be Adobe Photoshop.

In which the posters and billboards designs for the film were made. In this program it allowed me to add gradients, titles and images to again make the product seem more professional looking which would intrigue people into watching the film.  Our script writer also used a program called “Celtx” to order our script in an organised manner and to make the creation of the product more professional as well.

Celtx logo

Finally, we used zoom recorders to produce the voice-over for our radio trailer, in which we wrote a script on Celtx and then imported the audio file into Final Cut to add re-verb and other audio effects. All of these features allowed us to create a much more proficient film and allowed us to successfully reach our target audience.

KARMA - Completed First Edition

This is the first render of our completed film. It is now subject to critical audience evaluation, for us to act upon if there is any major feedback saying we need to change something.

Progress Diary 21/03/13 (Sean Martin)

Due to the footage we had not being long enough to fit the 5 minute target, we had to film an extra sceme at the end which shows Adrian coming home to his house and relaxing, whilst being confused about the similarities to his day and to what he thought was his dream.

We have currently finished filming and editing our film and are now onto developing a radio trailer to advertise and promote it. The posters for our film have been finished and we are now finalising our film for evaluation.

Poster Idea (Sean Martin)

Me and the other members of the group have to decided to each make a poster for our film. By doing one individually, it allowed us to not only have more posters to choose from, but to have different takes on what the poster should look like. From using a standard format design to more abstract designs.

For my design, I decided to be more abstract with its appearance  The black and white imagery stands for both elements of good and bad karma. As well as the two images of the main character (Adrian) showing both sides of himself. And how throughout the film, Adrian's personality and attitude changes.

Location Photos House Scene

The photos below were taken from the scene when Adrian goes home. We added this scene in after as we didn't have enough time to complete the film. 

Filming Diary - 01/03/2013

Today we began filming our extra scene. We needed to add some time onto our film, by adding a previously un-filmed scene. The scene takes place in Adrian's office, and Matthew is finally added to the cast list as an unidentified co-worker of Adrian. Below are the photographs taken on the set.

Progress Diary (2) Sean Martin

We have filmed almost all of our film, we are currently editing it whilst the last pieces of filming are being thought out. We have imported out film into Final Cut Pro to be editied and enhanced.

Over 20 minutes of footage has been captured and we are currently in the process of trimming certain scenes down or completely out to make up the 5 minute goal we need to reach.

Filming Diary - 01/02/2013

On our second day of filming, we got through quite a lot, and spent around two hours on the set! We gained access to an undercover car park near college, and used the areas of it wisely, to ensure we kept continuity. This meant that we had to make sure that the car was parked in the same space if we filmed again and the bins. The photographs below show us on the set.

Filming Diary - 25/01/2013

The first day of filming commenced today. We filmed part of our first scene, and part of scene two. We completed the corridor part of scene 1, and the car park part of scene two. The photographs below show us on the set.

Progress Diary - Sean Martin (Pre-filming)

We have acquired everything we need before we start filming, we originally planned to start last week but due to certain situations we had to postpone it until this week.

I have been involved in make-up tests to see if certain products we were using would work well and were convincing enough for the film. We have also done some test filming to gather experience on the new camera's we were using and to also see the different types of editing that could be done to enhance the appearance of the film. We also used a green screen to test certain backgrounds and see the effects certain camera shots would have.

I have also investigated into different media and film theories that contain information on the different types of codes that can be strewn throughout a film to make it much more involving.

Practicing tricky shots

It's nearly time for us to start filming our project so before we went out into the field, we decided to practice a few of the tricky shots we might encounter. To achieve the desired effect, we used various methods and techniques both in production and post production. The finished video is below :-)

Distribution for short films

Short films require a different method if distribution than large scale blockbusters, the interest in a relatively different story must be accounted for and so it is highly doubtful that big distributors will give attention to a film that doesn't follow some sort of structure when it comes to blockbusters. This refers to Propps Theory of Narrative in which most plots can be seen to follow a certain chain of events leading to the overall conclusion.

Short films generally don't make that money and are mainly used for exposure of a new director/actor allowing much more elaborate films to be produced in the future. Going with small distributors would also avoid deals that would allow the distributor to completely take control of the film itself.

We could self distribute our own film, however this has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. These include;

• Full control of rights to the film
• No cuts of money are given to anybody else

• Very time consuming
• Need to be very legally up to date in order for certain rights not the signed away.

Numerous short film distributors exist that are much more lenient to these types of films which would be more useful in distributing our film.

Examples include;



Dazzle

Warp Films

Future Shorts

Media Theories

The Hypodermic Needle Model

This is meant to give a mental image of the direct, strategic, and planned infusion of a message into an individual. It is also known as the "Magic Bullet", it assumes that the media's message is a bullet from the "media gun" into the viewers "head". The phase "Hypodermic neele" is meant to give a direct, strategic and planned infusion of a message into an individual. But as research methodology became more highly developed, it became apparent that the media had selective influences on people.

Barthes Code

Barthes code consisted of 5 different codes that could be applied to most narratives. These include;

• The Hermeneutic Code

This refers to any element in a narrative where the story is not fully explained, this then becomes and enigma for the audience, this can be done in several ways. For example;

• Snares (avoiding the truth) Snares 
• Equivocations (partially complete answers) or 
• Jamming's (in which there is no answer to a question

• Proairetic Code

This builds tension, referes to an action that may happen somewhere in the narrative. The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Coes work as a pair to develop story tensions and keep the reader interested.

• The Semantic Code

This takes the use of hidden signs throughout the narrative that may contribute toward its progress. These signs can be applied to;

• Text 
• Images
• Dialogue

• The Symbolic Code

Similar to the Semantic Code but acts at a wider level and usually with a deeper meaning. It is typically done in the use of antithesis, where a new meaning arises out of opposing and conflicts.

Head cut makeup test

At one point in our film, there is a scene where Adrian (Sean) trips over and cuts his head open. This injury is a vital part of our film, so it needs to look convincing in close-up shots.

To see how difficult it might be to create a prosthetic cut, Matthew used a simple halloween makeup kit consisting of red, black and purple paint, a sachet of fake blood, a fine brush, and a blending sponge.

The finished result is good enough to use in our film, although it might not be as big in the final piece as Adrian only trips and bangs his head on the floor so it wouldn't need to be that serious of a wound.

Simple Film Test - I'll Get the Next One

This is a very short film we made to test a number of techniques and methods such as manual focusing (shown in very first shot), match-on-action (shown throughout the first 20 seconds) and deliberately & correctly breaking the 180 degree rule (shown at 16 seconds in).

The manual focus in the very first shot is used to give the film a professional, modern look. It is also a good introductory shot as the foreground is static, giving room to add a title with all the activity happening in the out-of-focus background.

The match-on-actions throughout the first 20 seconds help link the shots together and make for successful continuity. It also enables us to seamlessly link together shots that were filmed in different locations, as he walks through the door at 16 seconds.

Finally, breaking the 180 degree rule usually should never be done either deliberately or accidentally, but there are a few exceptions; walking up stairs (you can only go up one way and down one way), moving the camera around without a cut at all, to cut on the line so there are 2 cuts altogether, or to cut through a door like we did.

Director - Connor Jackson
Main actor - Sean Martin
Cameraman - Matthew Jones
Editor - Kieran Charlesworth

Research on Film Posters

Many Hollywood films tend to follow similar patterns in the way their posters are made and advertised to the audience, common trends pop up such as; the main character of the film centred in the middle, the title below the character, a wall paper in the background, the name of the actors in the film located at the top of the page, its release date and a slogan to promote the themes of the film.

Examples from modern cinema include:

The Dark Knight Rises

SkyFall

Final Destination

However, in the past, and in different countries, there have been a lot of abstract and more unique ideas for certain posters, which I believe would be useful for the story in our film.

Retaining continuity within filmmaking

Continuity gives a overall coherence between different shots in a film, it allows for the film to flow and can assist in explaining the plot, this is usually done through cuts and transitions in post-production       There are many different ways in which this can be done, for example;

• Diegetic sound
• Match on action
• Temporal Discontinuity
• Fade outs
• Flashbacks
• Establishing shots
• 180 degree rule
• Jump cut

Location research

The main body of our film is to be set in an underground / multi-storey car park towards the end of the day when it's getting dark. We had some idea as to where to film, although when we arrived we were asked about what we were doing there, and told it was unlikely we'd be allowed to film in the car park. Despite this setback, we are still going to enquire as to whether we can get permission to film there, and if we are denied there are other similar locations we can look at.

The car park we went to is here

The following photos are a selection of the best ones we got.




This shows the vast, cold setting of the car park. The lighting is also quite dim inside the car park and would be even more effective in the coming winter months when it gets dark early. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling are a natural source of eerie lighting as it's not often things are lit directly from above, and the colour of the light on camera isn't the same as natural sunlight.

This particular piece of graffiti caught our eye. It is situated on one of the walls of the entrance to the car park, and displays the haunting words "who needs flowers when you're dead?"

This kind of dark, mysterious graffiti is exactly the kind of thing you would expect to see in the setting of a car park where our kind of film is going to be set.

This shot shows Sean standing facing the camera, with the bright light from outside glaring in behind him. The silhouette looks good in this kind of scene and hides all his features, but for our film we intend to film when it's darker outside than when we took these photos so we won't be able to use this effect. This however is a good shot to display the fluorescent lighting on the ceiling that will give a good effect to just show a few of the features of the actors, but hide the majority of them to add to the eerie mystery of the scenario.

This photo is in a delivery bay area, just under the first level of the car park. At night time, this will be much creepier with all the eroding brickwork and dull, dark colours. There is also a good canvas here for some lighting from the left of this photo, to come in and light up half of Adrian's face to show he has a split personality, or a good side and an evil side.

Target audience and certification

The target audience for our film will be people aged 14 and up, that are interested in jumpy horror films, but we are aiming for a 12A certificate so there is the potential for a wider audience.

The BBFC allow the following features in 12A horror films:

"Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained."

Our film will feature moderate psychological threat, with the use of haunting sounds and darkened atmospheres, and also slightly disturbing sequences with jumpy, demon-filled action.

The quote regarding violence is as follows:

"Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context..."

The only blood in our film that we have planned, is the scene where Adrian (main character) trips and falls, banging his head on the floor. This causes a mild laceration on his forehead, which is then referred to later in the film - it is essential to the twist at the end, but will not be glorified or focused on for a prolonged period of time.