FINAL FILM & EVALUATION

Evaluation Script

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

My media product, Havenheath, uses a number of conventions seen in real media thriller productions. One of these well known conventions is the use of dark colours to build a tensing atmosphere. As in Silent Hill, the mist shrouds the town creating mystery, and there is next to no light when Rose is searching for her child in an ally way. These methods build tension for the viewer as they don't know what to expect, or when. Similarly, my production, or at least the parts involving Hans and Kaira, have been coloured to use a dark atmosphere. I also added a tint of colour, dark blue, which relates to the background colour of the poster created.

Another convention of thriller is the music and duologue supplying the audience with tension and mystery. The music I have included helps to build a tense feeling, and the voice over used by Johan almost narrates Kaira and Hans, or more specifically what they're doing wrong. Along with this, the audience even hears questions being asked in the production itself, allowing them to relate with the characters and get more immersed in the plot.

Though, thrillers also tend to have a known enemy or threat, which is where I chose to develop that convention a bit, by choosing an unknown being. The audience wont know if it's human or not, only that it's dangerous. Also the use of an antagonist and protagonist is a little hazy. Kaira and Hans will most likely be seen as the Protagonists, they push the story forwards and guide the plot. Though Either of them could be seen as an antagonist. Hans, due to constantly trying to stop Kaira from going on, and Kaira due to her general ignorance of any advice or help.

Like other popular media productions, I have also challenged the conventions a bit. As Inception ignores to focus on one or two main characters and has a large cast, you get less insight into the characters background, but it shows who the activists are and who will strive to drive the plot. Kaira and Hans are much like this. The classic female stereotype is also challenged. Though, Kaira does fill the role of the victim in the end, through out the entire production she is bold and confident, and hardly a damsel in distress. Lisa form red eye also fits into the same category. Though she is threatened and an obvious victim, she stays strong through it and is confident in her abilities.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My main product includes dark, mysterious colours and also asks a lot of questions, mainly ones the audience will also be thinking. This gets the audience gripped further into the production, capturing their interest and making them feel like they're part of the mystery with the link to the characters.

My poster also uses the concept of dark and mysterious. All you see in it is the title, surrounded by fog. It leaves a lot up to the audience to assume and guess, giving no specific details. This type of effect is also used in the main production, after watching it the audience's curiosity is satisfied a little, but only a little in terms of mystery. The tag line of the poster also has the word “see” covered by the fog, which is a blatant hint that there is an imminent threat to the characters. The use of the word “them” also gets the audience asking questions, who are they? This line is used a fair bit int eh productions, so the audience can relate the the characters sense of confusion.

My radio trailer, like my production, uses eerie music to build suspense and tension to the viewer. Quotes and sound effects from the production are also used to give the viewer a sense of familiarity when they see the production. The trailer, much like the poster also hides a lot from the audience. Since there are no clips to go along with it, the location will be unknown, as will the source of these sounds. Is the door slamming a good sign or a bad one? Who keeps telling them not to ask questions?

I'd say over all the combination of the ancillary and main production are rather effective. They link together well, all with similar elements. Each of them constantly keep the audience guessing and filled with mystery, never quite giving them the details they want. The cliff hanger at the end does a similar thing. Throughout the production they are finally given a little bit of satisfaction for their curiosity, but its re-fuelled again at the end, with them not knowing what's in the house, whether it's human or not, leaving them wanting more.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

At the start after showing my audience my pitch I was given positive feedback. I was told my production held mystery, and caught their interest and the plot appealed to them. After doing my first viewing I was complimented on the framing and the questions they asked. It kept them guessing and fuelled their curiosity further.

From my opening, i've been told the titles and the music were really good at creating suspense, and looked professional. The audience was really curious to know what was going on in both sides of the plot, but left like that due to neither having a final conclusion.

They also liked the colour of the scenes as they looked creepy and helped uild suspense and intrigue the audience.

Though some scenes used with Kaira (Hattie) were quite dark, and it was difficult to tell what was going on at times.

Also the audio in some places picked up the wind, or was quieter on some shots, though the use of music helped draw attention away from the wind, and by making it quieter in places, the audio was still audible.

If I were to do a production like this again, I would try to capture scenes so there is an even spread of light, since some scenes are extremely hard to brighten if they're already too dark. I would also ensure to have a wind breaker on the microphone at all times to try and get a better focus on the dialogue.

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

For my initial research the main source of technology used was the internet, mainly for looking up clips of thrillers, looks for posters and browsing radio trailers. These were all used to help me identify conventions that I could use, and helped me develop my final idea.

I also watched some DVDs for inspiration, this included Red eye and Silent hill. As well as that, I also used the computer to compile and create pie charts of my target audience research, which can be seen earlier on in the blog.

Whilst planning, I used Celtx, a professional script editing software, this allowed me to lay out my script at industry standards, and made it easier for me to switch between scenes when I came to edit the next draft. To publish my documents online I also used Sribd, an online community where you can upload, share and embed word documents for easy viewing and access.

During the production I used the school cameras, microphones and tripods. Though for a lot of scenes I borrowed a friends canon camera, due to it having better quality and was more versatile. As not only did I get to use the tripod it came with, but I was given permission to try using the steady cam, which was interesting to get to use. Using that also meant I could follow actors without previous issues i've had before of the footage being extremely unstable, and thus rendering it unusable.

During editing I used Sony Vegas pro 8, this software was used not only for my production but to create the poster and radio trailer as well. The radio trailer was an assortment of mp3 layers, and the poster was created by using layers for the fog and text, and also a lens flare in the background to give them spot light effect behind the H. For the production, the main effects I used, in order were, brightness and contrast, colour balance, black and white and colour correction (secondary). With the use of these effects combined, I got a few lovely edited shots, and in the end decided on keeping the scenes with Kaira and Hans with a dark blue/purple tint, due to this giving the scenes not only a dark atmospheric feel, but also mysterious as well. A similar colour was also used originally in the background of the poster, so it could be seen as the 'colour' for the production.

At the end I also had originally planned to show a darkened glimpse of the creature, there were a few technical issues with this though. My hardware couldn't handle rendering an animation, and took several hours to just render a still image of the creation. After having an attempt to see if I could include that, after rendering the section, the mask and precise framing selection didn't work out as well as hoped, due to some added motion blurring after it had been rendered, so instead I cut off early and used another scream we recorded to show the imminent danger.

For my evaluation, again I used Sony for editing, and the school camera and microphone to record. I also had a bit of a browse online to get ideas of what other students had previously done for their evaluations before, and to see the variety of quality in each one.  

Pre-Production - Risk Assessment

Risk Assesment

Production - Music

I have found some tracks wthat would be suitable non diagetic music for my production. Also i have found a few appropriate tracks for music for the radio trailer. Try to upload small bits of it later.

Radio Trailer

Poster Final

Here is a copy of my finished poster

Production Feedback

After rendering a couple of scenes from my production, i presented them to the class. They only saw the bar side of the story, though i still got use from their feedback.
The feedback included some ways to improve, such as brightening some of the clips. And also positive feedback, like a compliment on the framing, and they liked the mystery in the dialogue - asking themselves questions as to what's actually going on.
There was also a comment on Toby's accent, asking a bit more about his character, the majority agreed they liked the accent as it was different and gave them some amusement.