EVALUATION AND REFLECTIONS ON 1A IN RELATION TO AS COUSEWORK Bethany Ainsworth-Coles

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Digital Technologies made it easier to visualise ideas and sequences than just drawing it out on paper. It meant we could test out ideas before actually including them in the final piece (eg the blurring used in the still above) However some of these effects took a lot of time and where difficult to achieve and some didnt look as good as we hoped they would.

CREATIVITY

We sampled ideas and themes from a wide range of sources and medias ie. Charlie Brookers Black Mirror (TV) a selection of films from multiple genres and literature such as A Clockwork Orange. This wide range of influences helped our piece creatively as it meant we had a variety of source material. We used some Horrors (Saw, Interview with a Vampire) some religious thrillers (Constantine) dramas (If) and even a comedy (Dogma) to get our inspiration and influence our product. Technology meant we could add in effects that would get our themes across in a way that accurately portrayed what we wanted the audience to see.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Our research into Genre helped us choose which genre we wanted to produce (Religious Thriller) but also what elements we wanted to cherry pick from other genres and sub-genres (Psychological thriller and the idea of our protagonists mental state) Audience surveys also helped us decide how we wanted the product which is why we rewrote dialogue so it fit more into the conventions and audience expectation. Storyboarding and shot listing was particularly helpful for our group as it meant we could visualise our ideas as much as possible before filming. Our storyboard became a lot better after we did our continuity task.

POST PRODUCTION

A lot of our final product was created in prost production (our green screens, black and white, editing and titles) We used premiere pro to edit and stock photos for the green screen background. We used sound to create suspense which we added in post production. We encoded meaning by adding the black and white and the transitions to give the idea of a addled mental state.

USING CONVENTIONS FROM REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS

We used conventions to show meaning and also to help the audience identify with what they are watching. I think our use of conventions was successful as our product was seen as a religious thriller. We borrowed a lot of conventions from the horror genre as well like using a young child to show innocence but unlike Interview with a vampire this child was used to show the double life that the protagonists leads and that the child didnt know anything.