Preliminary Task to Opening Scene Evaluation

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

The transition from our Preliminary task to our Opening scene has been huge. The shots and camera movements in our preliminary were very unstable, and there wasn't a huge amount of different camera movements and shots. I think that if we had a tripod whilst doing our prelim, the camera would have been much more stable and there would have been better quality filming, but because of doing it all completely free hand there was not a great result in quality. We also did not have any plan or storyboard like we did for our main opening. This allowed us to have much more fluent filming and continuity. From doing the prelim, I have learnt that a storyboard and plan is needed to get the best results and so is a tripod. 

*tracking/pan

Match on action was being practiced in our prelim task, which was good because we learnt how to create continuity in our final product. Match on action creates a 'visual bridge' for our audience so that they are not aware that there was an edit. 

Overall, I feel that doing the preliminary task enabled us to get the best result possible for our final product, for instance, the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot. If we did not practice any of these things in our preliminary, we would not be aware of how to deal with an issue if one was rised or we would not have known what had gone wrong. The preliminary task also gave us a chance to mess with the cameras to get used to them and how to use them. 

Technology Evaluation

What have you learned from technologies in the construction of your product?
Technology has played an important role in our media coursework, from, Research, Planning and Construction. 

The Technology we have used overall has been:

• The Apple IMac's 
• The internet
• Survey Monkey
• Blogger
• YouTubeConverter
• Imovie
• Digital Camera 
• Tripod 
• Celtx 
• Prezi

Blogger was the main piece of technology that was used and is where everything that we researched, planned and constructed was posted onto. I have never used Blogger before starting our coursework. I have learnt now how to use Blogger and what it can be used for. I have also learnt how to embed videos, photos, prezi's etc. I feel that by doing this coursework I can use Blogger again and feel much more confident using it. 

Research

We used SurveyMonkey to get involved with our audience and get an idea of who they are and what they expect to see in a Psychological Thriller opening. This was important because they are the people we want to go and watch our film and they will be the ones paying, so we needed to create a Psychological Thriller that would interest them so we can make money and a good film. We relied on SurveyMonkey a lot as it was quick and reliable and gave us a lot of information. We emailed the surveys to our target audience, which was also quick as we could send them in bulk and not as singles, saving us time.

Google was used so that I could gather research about the history of Psychological Thrillers, what psychological thrillers there are, images for our documentary etc. Google helped with allowing us to know more about the Psychological Thriller genre and because of this we created a more effective opening which you can straight away tell is a psychological thriller.

YouTube converter was used in order to access the opening scenes from YouTube to analyse on my blog. It also allowed the clips to be accessed in Imovie when we did our documentary. We could also download songs which were also used in our documentary.

YouTube was used in our planning to look at other Psychological Thriller openings, so we could get an idea of what they are like and what is most of the time involved in one. It also allowed us to analyse them, of which we embedded onto our blogs.

Planning

Celtx was the main piece of software that was used whilst planning our opening. We used it to create the script, storyboard, shooting schedule and character profiles. Celtx was very important in our planning stage as the storyboard allowed us to know what kind of shots we needed and where and allowed for efficient, smoother filming. The script was important as the actors needed to know what to say and do, otherwise the opening would not have been very good and would have been all over the place. The shooting schedule was also very important as we needed to be able to get the actors in the same place at the same time and have the suitable outfits and mise en scene. 

Prezi was used in the planning stage to build ideas for what our opening scene could be. Prezi is a great and easy way of getting information across in a fun, easy, quirky and interesting way. I have learnt how to use Prezi and will be using it more in the future for projects. 

Construction

Imovie has been the most important thing whilst creating our opening as it allowed us to edit our film to give it the best continuity, sound, transitions and effects. This was my first time using iMovie and to start off with I had absolutely no idea how to use it and did not know how to upload the videos you make onto YouTube or any other place on the web. But by making our opening, I have learnt how to use IMovie and I feel I am very confident with how I can create and edit clips on it and will be making more videos via IMovie in the future. 

YouTubeConverter has allowed us to download the non-diegetic background music for our opening and without this we would not have had such an effective opening and would have struggled for music if this was not available. I had never heard of or used this website before, so by using it, I am now more aware of what can be accessed online and how it can help create videos etc.

YouTube allowed us to share our opening and embed it onto our blogs, it also keeps all our videos. Before doing this coursework, I had never uploaded anything onto YouTube, so it has been a new experience and I now have the skills and knowledge of how to use YouTube for other possibilities. 

We used my Canon E051100D
This camera had many zoom in options so we could get the best zoom ins as possible. I have only took pictures on this camera and have never really recorded anything before, so this was a big lesson for me. I feel confident now about recording and have learnt how to keep the camera still. I have also learnt how many times you need to record to get the best results and continuity. As it is a DSLR we were able to use the focus ring to give better, professional quality to our film. The focus ring enabled us to focus on certain aspects like the front ground rather than the background, like in the scene where Christian is walking past the missing poster. This was useful as it allowed us to show the audience the main elements we wanted them to focus on; like the missing poster, as this was important to our opening. (The photo does not show the lens on the camera)

We used the Apple Imac to construct our  documentary, evaluation and most importantly, our opening. We constructed our opening via IMovie on the Imac. Before doing our coursework, I had never used the Imac to its full potential and was not aware of some of the software that is available on the mac, like IMovie for instance. I feel that I can now use the mac for its full potential and do a lot more with it, for instance, I did not fully know the controls for the mac but since doing the coursework I now know the controls. I also used the mac to record voice overs and videos when creating my documentaries and evaluation videos. 

The tripod gave us the best results for filming as it kept the camera steady so we did not have a wobbly picture. We were also able to do more camera movements like pans and tracking. We still had to use hand-held camera movements for certain aspects like the arc and walking alongside the character. But by using handheld camera movement when walking next to the characters, it gave much more effect to the film. I had never used a tripod before the coursework and have now learnt how to use one and will be using one a lot more in the future. 





Looking back at the technology that we used in our opening has made me aware of how much I hadn't used the technology for its full potential before the coursework, although I used them; like YouTube, I just watched videos on it, but now I know how to use it for its full potential, like uploading videos. It has also made me aware of technology that I did not know of before like YouTubeConverter, Blogger, Prezzi, Celtx and SurveyMonkey and has created a new world of possibilities for me when I do college work or hobbies. 

Representation Evaluation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Codes and Conventions Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Whilst creating our opening we had to consider codes and conventions and where we are going to develop the codes and conventions and where we are going to challenge the codes and conventions. We mainly developed the typical codes and conventions of the Psychological Thriller genre but also challenged them at times to create an effective opening.

Target Audience Evaluation

The question I had to answer for one part of my evaluation was:
Who would be the audience for your media product?
There were some mini questions that I answered to help answer this big question:
Who would be the audience for your media product?
How did you attract/address your audience? 
This video took a very long time to produce and I like some of the ways I have laid it out and will involve some elements like the voiceovers, clips etc in future videos for my evaluation. 

Psychological Thriller Opening

This is our final psychological thriller opening: 'Christian Carter' 
Christian has killed his girlfriend and seeks therapy due to him finding his brother dead on the floor when he was younger. As the film progresses we will get an insight into Christians life and find out why he killed his girlfriend.

Institution Evaluation

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We chose Warner Brothers as to be our production company and New Line cinema to be our distribution company. We created a Prezi in order to get our information across about our production and distribution company.
This is part of my evaluation also.

New Script

This is our new script which we had to make adjustments too due to there not being enough time to include it all. With the voice overs some did not fit where we wanted them to and it flowed better without the one voice over, we also had to shorten the one voice over and change the words because it did not fit into the time we had, but a good thing is is that it fits better and works better.

Shooting Schedule

We created a shooting schedule in order to know what days we will be filming and when we will need certain people,props, outfits and settings. It helps us to be organised so we can get the most out of filming and do it the way we want and need.

Storyboard for Opening Sequence

We had to create a storyboard on Celtx to show the scenes we are going to use in our opening and our camera shots that we are going to incorporate. This storyboard shows exactly how we are going to produce our opening. It shows that we are going to start off with a black screen which will then show the title of the film 'Christian Carter' because it is the protagonists name and is a film about his life, so it seems relevant, it then shows that we are going to have an establishing shot of a field and slowly zoom in on the figure that is in that field where all gets revealed: That it is a teen male holding a dead female body in his arms, this creates enigma also due to us not knowing anything about what is happening and wanting to know why she is dead and why he is carrying her through a field. We have a series of close ups on the female body then to show that she is in fact dead and she is a female. After this, there is a close up on the boys face to show his emotion and then the medium shot after this shows the environment of which is a bedroom and we see that he has just awoken, the voice over helps to anchor what was happening in the field. There is then a P.O.V shot of a picture frame which connotes that it has some sort of importance and then zooms into it revealing what the picture is of, and it is the boy and the dead girl which connotes that they had a relationship, it then fades out to show the same girl on a missing poster, the dream at the beginning anchors that she is dead and shows us that the characters in the film (apart from the boy) think that she is missing but only the audience and the boy know the truth, the audience feel as though they have been let in on a secret. There is another long shot showing the boy walking down the street, creating enigma, where is he going? The medium shot connotes that the voice over is coming from the boy and the voice over then answers our question as to where he is going and the flash back anchors all of what the voice over is saying. We are in a medium shot until he gets to a door and then we get another long shot to reveal all 3 people in a frame and also the dead girl... which will also be shown via an over the shoulder shot, it will then fade out to black to end the opening sequence.

This storyboard is going to help with our filming and will be a major guideline with filming and will help us know what shots are going to happen and where, it will help us to produce a good opening we have imagined and thought of. 

*At the very very start of the opening we will have the institution that is going to help with production etc with our film, like, Fox, Disney etc*

Character Portfolios

This is the protagonist Christian's portfolio of which says everything about him as a character.

This is the protagonists girlfriend Alice's portfolio of which says everything about them as a character.

This is the therapists portfolio which says everything about them as a character, there isn't much to say about the character because they are only there for Christian to talk to, they are not a major character.

This is Christians brother Matthew's portfolio of which says everything about him as a character, there isn't much to say about Matthew due to him not being a major character and only being used as a little backstory as to why Christian goes to therapy etc. 

Script for Opening

Final Idea

As a group we bought our individual ideas together and came up with an overall idea for a Psychological Thriller opening. We came up with the idea of a teen boy called Christian (the protagonist) kills his girlfriend Alice so the opening opens up with a black screen and non-diegetic gunshot and female scream, then we are introduced to Christian walking through a field carrying a dead body (Alice) he then jolts awake in bed and then looks at the picture frame next to his bed which has a picture of him and Alice connoting their relationship (girlfriend,boyfriend) they look happy but Alice's eyes are crossed out connoting that there is some sort of anger coming from Christian towards Alice but we do not know why, we find out later on. We are then shown a 'Missing' poster with Alice on it connoting that no one knows that she is dead. Christian is walking down a street to his therapists office (we find out from a voice over and flash back of him when he was much younger walking through a room, opening a door and seeing his brother dead on the floor, this is why he is seeking therapy) When he gets to his therapists office, we are shown and introduced to the therapist and also see Alice as a ghost, the screen then fades to black.

There is no real equilibrium because the psychological thriller starts in a bad way where there is only just disruption and ends bad because it results in the protagonist killing himself, there is no real happiness or equilibrium because there is nothing to really disrupt at the start and nothing is restored at the end. This table above, helps to put the stages into context and how things are going to work, for example, Christian and the therapist are going to recognise that something bad has happened (the disruption) It also shows what roles the characters are, for example, the helper/donor is the therapist. It also shows how the characters are going to be represented in the film and opening.

This codes and conventions table shows how enigma is going to be created, how the plot is going to be set up, how the characters are going to be introduced and what the pace, rhythm, mood and tone are going to be like in the opening. It helps us to see if we are actually going to be creating enigma, introducing our characters and setting up the plot.

Preliminary Task

We had to do a preliminary task in order to give us a chance to use the cameras and get used to them, in order for our filming to be good when it comes to the real thing. We were given the scenario of a girl walking through the door and walking across the room and then two characters having a conversation, we had to include a shot-reverse shot and had to make sure we acknowledged the 180 degree rule.

We included elements and shots like: close ups; we used a close up on the door handle to add emphasis to the fact that someone was entering a room, zoom ins and outs; the zoom in at the start helps to show that the girl is doing work and that she isn't in the room for no reason at all and sets up the plot and conversation, also the zoom out at the beginning shows the character actually walking through the door and helps us to see her journey from then on into the room, the shot reverse-shot helps to show that these characters are looking and listening to one another and in a way we get to see the other character from the other characters perspective, a pan was used when the characters were talking, making us able to see that these two characters are talking to each other and we get to see them both together and where they are, this also allows for a two shot when the characters were sitting across from one another at the table which once again shows that these characters know each other and are having a conversation which also shows that no one else is involved in this conversation, only these 2 characters.

I feel after doing this task, I am much more confident with the camera and how to produce certain shots etc. 

Brainstorm of First Idea For a Psychological Thriller and Opening

It was important that as a group we both came up with an individual idea, this meaning that our opening is the most effective and best it can be. If only one of us came up with an idea, it wouldn't be that great and would be quite bland, so we both came up with individual ideas and then next time in class we will bring the ideas together and come up with one big idea.

Most of my ideas have helped been produced via the research we collected earlier on, this means that it will be much more effective and will be what our target audience expect. I involved certain elements like an out cast teen because that is what is common in this genre and one of the stock characters our target audience expect. To show that he isn't 'normal' and has some mental issues, I have incorporated a therapist (another stock character expected to see) Fields wasn't something our target audience fully expected, but I feel it could give a twist and would fit very well in where the plot is heading and would be something very different. 
Here is my idea for a possible psychological thriller and opening...

Documentary

Documentary for Research On The Psychological Thriller Genre

This is all our research summed up into one documentary. We talk about the history of the genre, codes and conventions, target audience and then discuss our overall findings and how all this information is going to help with our opening scene. 

There are some things that could have been done to this documentary to make it better, for instance ate the beginning, there could have been more clips and voice overs when talking about the history of the genre. Also we could have incorporated more clips into this documentary. Apart from a few things, there are many things that worked well in this documentary because there was a range of techniques used like voice overs etc.. and managed to put the information and research across well, also because of this documentary we now know roughly what we shall and shall not do in the opening of our film for this genre. 

Target Audience

Mood board For The Target Audience

Demographics

These pictures were chosen because they suited our target audience and what their interests are, what they do in their free time etc.. the best. The Facebook and Twitter logos were chosen due to our target audience using the internet a lot in their free time. There are also instruments like a guitar and music notes around the mood board due to our target audience taking an interest in music and musical instruments. Books are there because are target audience like to read and are still taking part in an education. All of the images on the mood board are representative of what our target audience are like and gives us more of an overview of what kind of people we are aiming our film opening at. To help gather these images we used a focus group and an interview to allow us to know more about the demographics. 

'What do you like to do in your free time?' We asked our focus group this question and found that the most popular activities were; reading, watching films, watching TV, socializing, going online and exercising. The most popular out of these 6 were socializing and going online. 

'What are your hobbies?' We asked our focus group this question and found that the most popular activities were; making videos, playing a musical instrument, doing arty things like drawing, make up etc.. exercising and reading. The most popular out of these 5 were exercising and reading.

Findings 

These were the questions and answers to the questionnaire on surveymonkey

These were the basic questions:

 Majority of the people whom took this survey were female and the main age range was 16-17 years old and the most watched psychological thriller was 'Silence of the Lambs' at 50%. 

What Do You Expect?

We asked the question of 'What do you expect from a typical psychological thriller opening' and these were the answers we received. 

                       







What do you not expect?

We also asked them what they 'Do not expect to see in a psychological thriller' these were our responses. 

What stock characters?

We asked them 'What stock characters do you expect to see in a psychological thriller?' The most popular response was an outcasted teen/child and then Policeman/investigator and councillor/therapist coming in close also. These were the top 3 responses.

What Roles do you expect them to play?

We then also asked them what roles they expect these stock characters to play, these were the responses:

 
 
               

What Stock Settings Do You Expect?

We asked them also what stock settings they expect to see in a psychological thriller and the most popular response was a mental hospital and then home/bedroom and fields/outside/deserted coming in close. These were the top 3 responses.

Do They Require Supernatural Element? 

We asked them if psychological thrillers require the use of a supernatural element and the most popular response was 60-70% saying no they do not require the use of a supernatural element.

Scary and Something Out of The Ordinary?

We also asked them if psychological thrillers need to be scary and something out of the ordinary and 90% said yes they do.