Evaluation Question 7

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

Vlog

Prelim

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learn about technologies from the process from the process of constructing this product?

Since my opening required a lot of editing so I have definitely learnt loads of new skills in Final Cut. Before Media A level I was very confident with iMovie as I used that software on some videos and projects outside school but Final Cut was a bigger step for me. It was similar like the basic tools but theres more effects and tools to really make any video projects professional. Better effects, better quality sounds/musics (more realistic), better, more effective tools.

For example; Colour Balance was a feature that I didn't come across in iMovie and from just seeing it on the icon menu on right of the screen, I personally didn't think it would have a big impact on my work. But I was completely wrong.

The effects menu. The colour balance tool is the magic wand icon

Before 

After

I felt that this laptop scene in particular was quite warmed tone shot and didn't really fit in within the other shots. Therefore by using the colour match tool, I selected this low-angled shot and selected a wide shot and with the power of technology matched the tones with the wide shot. This made the laptop shot a bit lighter but still had elements of darkness as around that shot it has that shadow. 

As well as that I learnt more about screen capturing. I used quicktime to record the screen and I did find it very easy and good quality image. The only problem I found that it didn't record sound and I was hoping to have some videos on the screen and have the sound coming through and when editing I would put photos around it. But that wasn't the case. Unfortantly I had to re-think my layouts for the montage, however its turned out great and better than expected.



In general I have had my ups and downs with technologies as some have worked amazing for me but other parts haven't and when my opening realises on the editing (technology) to make everything worked together perfectly, its a struggle but I have learnt from successes and mistakes to make future projects better.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Attract: Cause to come to a place or participate in a venture by offering something of interest or advantage.
In the film industry, the distribution processes is a way of attracting an audience. By releasing teasers, trailers, posters, clips, etc.. 
Address: How does a film 'speak' to its target audience. 
By using certain forms of media conventions and elements help 'speak' to audience/ the audience to understand about what's going on in the film. E.g costumes, props, narration, mise-en-scene, sounds...

Distribution process; trailers, posters, other marketing tools 

in teasers and clips. I would used the most entriging scenes which create tension and suspense as it will hook the audience’s imagination and attention, leaving them with a snippet of fear and thrill. 

As well as teasers, I would use the power of social media to help attract an audience. By creating social media pages, I can release information, posters, pictures, etc.. for anyone to see, creating a wider and diverse audience. In addition people can have online discussions about the film and build a fan base. Furthermore people who have had similar experiences that are shown in Obsession, can help share awareness and get help for anyone who needs it. 

When addressing my characters I have used certain shots, music, costumes, dialogue to highlight either a positive or negative perspective on the protagonist and antagonist. In Obsession, I portray Millie to be innocent, bubble, fun teenage girl and when falling for Brett’s plan she becomes broken physcally and mentality as Brett has changed and oruppeted her. I feel that the audience will feel sympathic towards Millie as her fun, youthful life is slowly dying, becoming this weak girl. 

Arguably you could say that Brett is the antagonist based upon his insane intention, aggressive towards others, sometimes to Millie and his psychotic persona. However there are elements of sympathy towards Brett about his past with his parents and how he’s mentally ill. Brett has problems and struggles throughout his life, leading him to do things that are wrong  because he thinks there are right. 

Even though Obsession is the story about Millie slowly becoming a broken teen as she falls for a psychotic man. Also its about revealing the destroyed, sad, broken boy deep down within a ill young man. Therefore the audience will slowly uncover this about Brett and equally still give him some sympathy. 

Within my opening, I used narrative enigma leaving the audience puzzled as questions pop up in their minds but those questions give them a buzz as they're getting introduced to character and all they capture a figure and some facial features. No name, age, background knowledge, anything about Brett whereas the audience already know bits about Millie, i.e. name, age, personality. 

When showing my final cut to family and friends (who were more brutal than I thought) they did react as I wanted to achieve as they felt "on edge" and were "intrigued to learn more". However some did like the dark suspense track felt it was overpowering at times and they couldn't take in every detail because of it. Therefore if I could go back and improve the final cut I would lower the volume of the track 

Evaluation Question 3

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

Prezi Presentation Question 3

Evaluation Questions 2&4

Q2:How does your media product represent particulate social groups?
Q4:Who would be the audience for your media product 

Podcast questions 2&4

Evaluation Question 1

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

Final Cut

Overall I do like my final cut how there's some elements that I have grown to hate. I love the script for the narration, its very creepy and adds tension I just don't like how I executed the voice over. At the time I didn't have a male who was willing to record the narration for me. I couldn't ask my grandad as he has a very broad Yorkshire accent and sadly wouldn't bring out the creepiness, obsessiveness in the narration. Therefore I quickly thought on my feet and decided I would record myself and try to adjust the pitch and tone but I found that it's slightly impossible to do that in Final Cut and I couldn't find any other software online that would help with this task. I've got to admit the voice over is rubbish and I'm not happy with it and it wouldn't have it but I really wanted to included the narration as I feel it tops of the creepiness and adds that sense of tension that makes people's skin crawl.

In addition, I didn't add any more tittles as from my genre research I found that most thrillers and drama (especially Drama Thrillers) didn't include a lot of titles in the opening, the only titles that were featured were  the movie title, director, produce and production company then in the next scene they include more credits like actors

Rough Cuts: Screen + Study

Rough Cut 1 (Screen + Study), 3 minutes: 

I pieced both of the two parts together to see how long the whole opening will be and I edited the titles into the opening as well to see the overall effect. The whole opening comes to 3 minutes which I'm happy about as its not too long but i would like it to be a bit shorter in the screen capture part as i want it to be more snappy and fast pace to really build up the tension but I'm not sure if speed up that part or take a section of the screen capture out.

Rough Cut 2, 2 minutes 53 seconds:

I added in my ident at the beginning to sort out the transition between the ident and my opening.
In addition I deleted a section out of the screen capture to make it more shorter and snappy, also that part of the screen capture was the longest part and it was just a mixture of clips and photos and I didn't really think it all worked well together unlike the other sections of the screen capture therefore I deleted it without any form of regret. Furthermore it speed up the montage, I sped up three parts of the screen capture by 20% just to make it faster but not too fast which makes the audio high pitch.



Rough Cut 3, 2 minutes 49 seconds: 

I cut the opening little bit, only 4 seconds but its still good as I want the opening to be short. So shorter the better. The transition between the scene capture and study scene was difficult at first because the two parts didn't flow as well as I hoped. So I copy a clip (over the shoulder shot of the hooded figure looking at the computer) and shortened the shot and reversed it to the shot shows the focus changing form the computer to the hooded figure's jaw and ear. I decided that this shot would work at the beginning of the study scene as it instantly reveals some sort of identity to who is viewing  the stuff on the computer.

Over the shoulder shot

In addition to help build and to stain the tension between the two parts I added in a blank, black screen to give add a bit of thrill to the opening and almost give the audience a bit of a shock when it goes black and then image appears again. Also the music stops and when the second part appears the dark backing tracking becomes even louder adding to the tension and the shock.

All I have left to do is to record, edit and add the voice over into the opening so it fits within the opening and the actions around it.

Rough Cuts: Study scene

Study scene rough cut 1:

Rough Cuts: Screen Capture

30/03/17: I have my first rough cut of the first part of the opening, the screen capture. I'm happy with it since its my first rough cut. It definitely needs shortening down to less than a minute and it needs to be more snappy and quick to help build the tension and the creepiness and I don't think I have those two elements yet.

Screen Capture rough cut 1:

Screen Capture rough cut 2:
In my second rough cut I added a backing sound, called Drone Dark suspense from the final cut library. I think this works well as its a dark tone which helps adds tension.

Screen Test

Screen Capture Test Footage 

I don't have any test shots for the study scenes but I do have a test of the screen capture for the first half of the opening. 

The reason why I wanted to have my screen capture at the start of the opening so it can help build up Millie's character, background and personality via the photos and videos, such as; pictures with friends to show her sociability and close friendships, pictures with family members to connote how much of her family means to her, pictures with boys to hint towards past or current relationships


What I learnt from the test: 

• I couldn't control where the images and videos popped up on the screen. My intention was for the images on the screen to pop up around the screen to form a collage but they just appeared over the top of each other. 

• Quicktime player (the software which I used for the screen capture) doesn't record the sound for the videos therefore when I'm editing I need to add the sound in for the video clips 

• I liked the ending bit when it closes down all of the images, so maybe when the Hooded Figure leaves the study I could include that ending section at a faster pace to emphasise the rush that the hooded figure is in.

For my desire look for the screen capture, I will have to edit the footage to add sound, build up the images and videos to create the montage I want to help build the tension and the creepiness. I'm going to do my final screen capture and edit from that one and maybe from the test and just build it up from there.  

Filming

On Sunday 12th March, I started and finished filming for Obsession. The location was at my Nana's and Grandad's house in their spare bedroom. It took long than expected as it took a couple of hours to set up the scene and pinning up the 'obsession wall' as the map kept falling down and I had to cut and ripped the photos, notes, etc...

It may seem embarrassing to some but I used my grandad as the hooded figure as I wanted a guy to be the hooded person but I don't have many guy friends and they were already busy and my grandad was happy to help. You can't really see his face so the audience won't know its an 70 year old man instead of a 25 year old guy.

After setting everything up, camera in position, grandad already, I went to go and turn on my camera, then I checked that I've left my camera battery at home charging from the night before. A phone to my mum and half an hour later my annoyed mum gave me my battery and another half hour later at 5:45pm I finished the filming for Obsession. I think it went pretty well, I haven't look through all of the footage in detail but when I had a brief look to see if they were in focus they looked good. I got all of my close up shots, some with focus transitions.

Behind the scenes vlog:

Ident

I have a couple of ident ideas around the idea of popcorn and balloons. I thought popcorn as it associates with the verb 'pop', it relates to movies and it's fun. As much as I like the idea of popcorn popping around the screen for my ident, a balloon popping on the screen has a always been my original idea.


My ident would start with someone holding a balloon against a background, then a pin comes into shot and the balloon gets popped from the right. After the balloon gets popped, sound of a baby cry appears which cues for the production name "Popping Productions"

I brought some cheap balloons the other day and tomorrow I'm going to film my ident against a plain background. I'm going to film using a large depth of field, on a tripod, using natural light and ask my mum to help pop the balloon for me. I've got plenty of balloons so if a shot goes wrong then I can easily just retake the shot.

31/3/17: My ident is finally done!
I edited it in Final Cut. I altered the colour to make it more pink, purple tones to match the colour of the balloon and to make it more fun. I used the 'Knock Out' effect  for the text with the Strenuous font     to help emphasise the pop. Then I added in the crying baby when the text appears.

Locations/Props/Characters

Location
Location at this moment of time is unknown as I am finding it difficult to find an empty room/study/bedroom where I can decorate the walls and a fit a table/desk and a chair in. Similar to the photos below but a bit smaller.

Update: (29/2/17) I'm using my Nana's and Grandad's spare bedroom as it has a old vibe as it has a lot of dark wood furniture. It also has a blank white wall and a desk which was a staple when searching for a location.
Props 

• laptop
• photos and videos of the teenage girl protagonist 
• maps 
• documents, sheets of paper
• tape 
• black clothing: top, jacket, hoodie, jeans, shoes, hat 
• a phone 

Characters 

Millie: a teenage girl, aged 16/17, blondish hair, blue eyes, average height. She a sociable person, funny, outgoing, bright girl. Currently doing A levels at a high achieving Grammar School.

Hooded Figure (known as Brett later in the film) age 25-40. Works at a television company, quite mysterious

Treatment

Title: Obsession

Genre: Drama / Thriller / Crime

Duration: 90-100 minutes

Obsession is a griping thriller all about possession, desire, lust.

Synopsis: A man has a obsession over a funny, bright and sociable teenage girl and he will do anything to make her his.
A modern take on the 1993's Crush, still including the psychotic/obsessive characteristics but within the 21st century.

Characters:
Brett, 25 year old man, working at a office at a television company. He's never been in love before yet seeing Millie from across the street made him feel something that he's never felt before. As a child he never really got loved by his parents. They would leave him for weeks without any notice, they wouldn't support him in his hobbies, they would forget his existed. Therefore when he fell for Millie he is determined to love her so much unlike what his parents didn't do to him. Hence the obsession began. Living two lives, Brett is slowly becoming more insane as every minute passes without being in possession of Millie.

Millie, 17 year old school girl making the most of her youth. Has a close group of supportive friends and proud, supportive parents forever encouraging to do her best at school, hobbies and life. Has had a couple of boyfriends but wasn't anything serious just for fun. Her carefree, innocent attitude causes her trouble once Brett's eyes lay on her. Her inexperience with 'true love' and her rebellious traits led her to fall into Brett's capture leading to dangerous things. Once fallen in love with Brett, it clouds her judgment and perspective on life, talking to parents and friends therefore leading to break bonds, trust and friendships

Target Audience: Primary audience; 21-35 males, Secondary audience; 16-25 females.

Budget on:

Equipment:
Cameras
Lights
Microphones
Costumes/Hair & Makeup
Set Design

Payment to:
crew
actors/actresses
hiring location space

Storyboard

Shots 1-9:

• Laptop login appears, password types on.
• The desktop appears, a curser moves over to a folder called HER.
• The folder opens, rows of the photos and video icons show.
• Pictures and videos were pop up and play o the screen, photos/videos will pop up one after each there creating a montage.
• As more photos and videos appear on the screen, the shot will zoom out to reveal a study or room with a hooded figure sitting behind a desk with a collage of photos, maps, documents and various other things stuck on a bare wall 

Shots 10-18:

• Over the shoulder, close up shot of the hooded figure
• Panning shot form left to right, wide shot of the hooded figure sitting in front of a wall covered in photos of Millie, documents, maps, etc..
• Cuts to close up shots of photos, documents, etc.. revealing more information about Millie.
• Cuts back to the wide, panning shot 
• Cuts to close up shot of papers, bottles.etc..
• Cuts backs to the panning shot 
• Extreme close up shot of a notification popping up on a phone screen

Shots 19 - 26: 

Close up shot of the laptop closing down
Wide shot of the hooded figure getting up from the desk
Low/Floor angle shot of the hooded figure walking out of the room, shot only shows feet and legs
Cut to close up of switching the light off
Close up of the door handle as the hooded figure opens and closes the door
Close up shot of the door closes, text types onto the screen, image fades to black.

Screenplay

BBFC rating

Currently I'm deciding which rating best fits my film so I can maximise my audience

BBFC description of a 15 rating:

15 – Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 15 rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail). The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting.

Language

There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual context but usually without strong detail.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Threat

There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained focus on sadistic or sexual threat is unlikely to be acceptable.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.

BBFC description of a 18 rating: 

18 – Suitable only for adults

No one younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema. No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated video work. Adults should be free to choose their own entertainment.

Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
• where material or treatment appears to us to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society. For example, the detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sadistic or sexual violence which make this violence look appealing; reinforce the suggestion that victims enjoy sexual violence; or which invite viewer complicity in sexual violence or other harmful violent activities
• where there are more explicit images of sexual activity in the context of a sex work (see below) or where the primary purpose of the images in question is sexual arousal In the case of video works, which may be more accessible to younger viewers, intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at 18

Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality or safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.

Sex works at 18

Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material which may be simulated are generally passed 18. Sex works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the R18 category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at R18 is also unacceptable in a sex work at 18.

After looking at the descriptions of both a 15 and 18, I feel that I would rate my film a 15 because it will include adult themes such as stalking, it would include some strong language, have sex scenes, nudity, etc... I decided not to make it an 18 as my secondary audience would be girls aged 16-21 so if I rated as an 18 it would take away that chunk of audience and limits it to be an adult audience. Therefore, I've decided to rate my film a 15 so I can get the maximum amount of my target audience. 

Audience Research using the BFI

4.3.2.1

4 girls out on a 3 days trip into 2 cities, if they survive. While Jo is working in a supermarket, her 3 friends are all out on their adventures.A chance encounter with diamond thieves sends them on a collision course with fate itself

From looking at the data, I can see that main audience are males and that most people are over 25. The main purpose of viewing this film was that Noel Clarke directed this film and he is well known for directing other films within this genre such as KidHood and Adulthood. In addition 22% of audience members watched the film as it featured Noel Clarke therefore 72% of views were influenced by Noel Clarke appearance and/or work, making it a primary purpose for viewing the film. Similarly at total of 77% when to go and see the film because it feature a well known or one of their favourite actor/actress. However only 38% of audience went because of the genre, connoting that this genre is unpopular has not even 50% were interested about the genre.

The Skin I Live In

A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.

Similarly to 4 3 2 1, only 31% were interested/attended the film because of the genre highlighting that it's an unpopular genre. Furthermore the audience were influenced be a famous director/writer as 74% of people instead of the plot of the film. This could imply that the trailer and the advertising didn't help protray the plot as a exciting as some audience members who of hoped. In contrast just over 50% of audience members were women as the main protagonists was a female so the female audience could relate to her.


The Double

A clerk in a government agency finds his unenviable life takes a turn for the horrific with the arrival of a new co-worker who is both his exact physical double and his opposite - confident, charismatic and seductive with women

Audience Research using YouGov

To get more research to see if there was any patterns within gender and age. To find certain films that fit closely to my genre and plot, I went onto BoxOffice Mojo and went on the highest box office rating films in the Thriller: Stalker/Pyscho genre and went through most of the films to see the results of potential audience members. However it was't really successful as most of the top ranked films didn't come up on the YouGov website which in itself shoes that the film or even genre aren't that popular. But I did get some results but they weren't necessarily the films I would of liked to research about but never the less I got some results. Interestingly I got very different result than I was expecting. What I was originally expecting was to see young adult audience ranging between 18-35  and mostly males however more 40 year olds and above.


Sleeping with the Enemy
Gender: Female
Age: 40-51
Social Grade: ABC1
Regions: North West
Monthly Spare: less than £125
Politics: Right Wing
Professions: Fashion and Designs

Disclosure 
Gender: Male
Age: 40-54
Social Grade: C2DE
Regions: London
Politics: Right Wing
Professions: Sports Industry

One Hour Photo
Gender: Female
Age: 25-39
Social Grade: ABC1
Regions: North West
Monthly Spare: less than £125
Politics: Left Wing
Professions: Community and Social Care

Fatal Attraction
Gender: Female
Age: 55+
Social Grade: ABC1
Regions: East Anglia
Monthly Spare: £1000 or more
Politics: Right Wing
Professions: Finance

Basic Instinct 
Gender: Male
Age; 40-54
Social Grade: ABC1
Regions: North West
Monthly Spare: £1000
Politics: Right Wing
Professions: Sports Industry

Eyes Wide Shut
Gender: Male
Age: 55+
Social Grade: ABC1
Regions: London
Monthly Spare: £1000 and more
Politics: Right Wing
Professions: Architecture and Interior Design

First Production Meeting/Chat

In this first production vlog, I talked about:

• I decided to work aloe for my film opening 
• Go over my plot of the film opening 
• Discuss and explain characters, strengths and difficulties at this moment in time