Evaluation

Jade Free

Jade

In what ways does your media product

use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
In our film we used a number of different ideas, we made few changes and mainly focused purely
on our theme/genre. We used similar ideas from Alfred Hitchcock for example, we used our flash
black scene and put in into black and white. Hitchcock used this effect in his film Psycho, this is
effective because we used the black and white colours to represent the past. We also used colour
but that was used in the present part of our film, this worked well as we also added a fade in and
fade out effect on our film when our main character (Courtney Wise) was remembering her flash
back.

Ours

Hitchcock
s
Another idea from Hitchcock was the famous shower scene from Psycho, during this scene a close
up/zoom shot is taken of Marions eye after she has been murdered and falls out the shower and
onto the floor. We used this idea when Courtney is in her flashback with Lewis (Other main
character) and she stares at him for a short moment with anger, we used this close up because it
puts the characters eyes in the frame so our audience will only be able to see her eyes and what

Location

Our film included conventions which occur in other thriller films

especially those associated with Alfred Hitchcock, for example the
mise-en-scene of a thriller film is often set in open. Mainly isolated
places such as the countryside, however within my group took this
idea of a derelict area from Psycho and incorporated it into our film to
make it a conventional thriller film. We also used the same low angle
shot when we took the first still image of the church to give the effect
of intimidation and mystery. Although the church is in the centre of
town our shots make it look secluded. We also used the church for our
first location as it will be able to give an idea to the audience what
our film may contain, it also is a location where lots of questions can
be asked. Using the church also fitted in well with our genre
(Psychological Thriller).

Hitchcock
techniques

My group have used a lot of Hitchcocks techniques, whilst using the

same colour ideas and shots we also researched Hitchcock and found
a list of techniques on how to make your own film like Hitchcocks.
After looking at this website we took a few notes and used them in
our film, for example: Frame for Emotion. During the church scene
we decided to use a shot which would be able to tell the audience
what emotions were being portrayed, we used a low angle/close-up
shot of Courtney in the church to show her guilt, sadness and grief.
This shot is very effective as her whole face is in the framing meaning
the audience will only be focused on her, the close-up will fill the
screen with emotion, and pulling away to a wide angle shot will
dissipate that emotion. Hitchcock used the theory of proximity with

Prop
s also referred to Hitchcocks Camera is not the camera technique, we did this buy using props
We
such as: The kettle, the knife and butter, newspaper and many more. To really use the same idea
as Hitchcock we focused on the butter and how only for a short second we see Courtney stab the
knife into the butter pot, this then sends out many assumptions and questions. The camera should
take on human qualities and when doing so it allows the audience to feel like they are involved in
uncovering the story, the knife had a good effect because it tells the audience that there is anger
and
weaponry being used in this film without showing it in a harmful way.
Dialogu

e group were originally stuck for ideas when

Our
it came to dialogue, we decided that in the end
we would as little as we could as it made the
scenes more effective. Through out the first
scene in the church there is no dialogue
whatsoever and this came across as realistic
when we considered our genre and moment in
the scene. Nothing shows a disturbed grieving
women than silence, we didnt include too
much dialogue because we dont want our
characters to have too much to say. Our group
decided that we would let the props do the
talking and it worked well with the storyline of
the film. Unnoticeably me and my group were
unaware that this too was a another technique
of Hitchcocks called Dialogue means
nothing, we decided for each prop recording
that we would keep it short and sweet creating
a sharp effect when the audience watch, for
example the butter shot is roughly around 2

Conventions and similar

When
films it came to the conventions of our film we decided to mix things up,
usually the villain in films is male however we chose to use a female
character instead (Courtney). Obviously within the first two minutes of our
opening scene its hard to judge who is going to be the villain, but we give
subtle hints such as the knife in the butter and the close-up shot of
Courtneys eyes. We done this so that the audience would find it unexpected
and different, we took the idea from the film Black Swan directed by Darren
Aronofsky. In black Swan, Nina the main character is both the hero and
villain when she tries to perform two different roles (white swan and black
swan), although we didnt make Courtney a hero and a villain it still remains
effective without involving a male.
http://
www.fanpop.com/clubs/black-swan/images/20819731/title/black-swan-fanart

Lightin
g far a lightening goes on our film, we used
As
daylight to do most of the work and then
afterwards put effects on. Throughout the church
scenes we put a darkened effect on top of each
clip making it look dimmer and darker which is
effective as during that scene the main emotions
being portrayed is grief and depression. Other
than the church scene we used a black and white
effect on Courtneys flashback scenes as this
would represent the past, we used black and
white because it clearly shows our choice of
costume as well. Artificial lightening was used in
our film during the flash back scene due to

Effect
symbol

Camera
shots
For our camera shots we decided to use a wide range of positions, we mainly used shots such as:
close-up, medium shots, establishing shots, low angle shots, two shots and high angle shots. During
the flashback scene we used a medium shot of Courtney and Lewis which is effective because it
allows the audience to see both characters and there is a certain distance between them, we chose
to have them seated opposite so that the audience can see the separation between them. This will
help to show the tension that is between the characters. We used a similar idea from Hitchcock in his
film Psycho when Marion and Norman are talking, the distance between them tells the audience
that Norman and Marion are both aware of each other and that the atmosphere is awkward.

Hitchcocks:
Psycho
A regular shot we used was a close-up shot. In this
case we used it for Lewiss feet as he walked around
the table to get to his chair. This was effective
because it showed where Lewiss was going and
where he might be going due to wearing shoes. His
work shoes are apart of the costume as during this
scene he sits to eat breakfast and then leaves for
work. During the flashback scene Lewis wears a suit
for his costume. This was effective because it
emphasises that he has an important job and
Courtney is a wife who doesnt work, it is also

Our
s

Downloading tracks/Internet research:

When finding music for our opening scene we used SoundBible. This allowed us to download
music into our documents and then use them at school for our opening scene.

Shows sound is
on the video

Music was easy to chose as we went with mysterious and tension

building music, this included crows, suspense music, prop music kettle
and background music.

How does your media product represent

particular social groups?
Characters
My group decided to use characters that could
portray adults, Lewis being 19 years old was perfect
for the part as he looked around 20 years old
anyways. Courtney however who was only 17 years
old needed costume and very few long shots so that
the audience wouldnt get suspicious with height.
Having easy access to both characters we were able
to conduct a smooth recording schedule, both
characters played their emotions extremely well
through out the whole film opening, evening when
the film was based around death and suspicion.

Speech

17

19

During our film opening we didnt use as much

dialogue as we thought, this wasnt intentional at
first but after researching and trying to figure out a
script we came to the conclusion that dialogue
wasnt needed. However within the flashback scene
dialogue is used when Courtney tells Lewis to leave
it (the spilt milk). After all the tension between
Lewis and Courtney , Lewis decides its time to go to
work and leaves, during this he tells Courtney he is
going. Other than two lines of dialogue from each
character there is no other speech.

Just leave

Costume/clothing
Our choice of costume was an easy choice, we all agreed that black and white would bring the best effect
on our audience as the colours are very different black being harsh and dark and white being pure and
clear. Lewiss costume is a black suit with black shoes and a black work coat. We used this because it
shows the importance of Lewiss job, Courtney however is a wife who stays home, she is wearing a white
dressing gown throughout the flashback scene and this tells the audience that they are a comfortable
couple at first. We also gave Courtney white as it shows she is pure and innocent to begin with and in the
church scene it shows she has suddenly turned dark when she wears her black coat, leggings and black
shoes.

Black suit
and coat
(Flashback
scene)

Black Coat
(Church
scene)
Black boots

Behaviour
Our characters maintained their emotions and behaviour extremely
well, Courtneys behaviour was of that a guilty person. She kept this
emotion on her face throughout every scene as the church scene and
flashback scene was relevant. Lewis on the other had played an easy
part because he is unbeknown to everything and wakes up one
morning thinking that his wife has woken up on the wrong side of the
bed. Lewis uses more confusing facial expression whilst Courtney
changes between guilty and spiteful. Because the characters were
accessible we managed to conduct a smooth recording schedule,

Other similar films:

Basic
instinct A film we randomly thought of and research for more ideas
and techniques was Basic Instinct. This film had a huge
effect as the film has a female as the main antagonist,
which is a change from the normal convention of a male
playing the bad guy. We felt by having a female it would
make our film more interesting and mysterious. We put a lot
of careful thinking into how our antagonist would behave
due to not having the ideal manly features. Also by doing
this it would throw our audience of guard and be a great
attribute of a psychological thriller. However we used Steven
Spielberg for inspiration we camera shots and editing. The
first technique that we decided to implement was to use his
tracking shot, this is where the camera is hand held and
moved near to the object/character. We then frequently
used a shot by Steven Spielberg, where you frame the
Although we used our own ideas,
characters through rich foreground objects, often this is
we were also influenced by several
used to make someone look distant or out of focus.
other films. These have had a great
effect on our ideas for characters
and plot lines as well as filming
techniques. Firstly our group felt
extremely influenced by Alfred
Hitchcocks brilliant film Psycho,
whilst we admired his work and
researched his techniques we also
took into account how we could
make our film more like his. Of
course ours cant be exactly the

What kind of media institution might

distribute your product and why?

My group and I researched several different film companies, for example Major
film companies such as Walt Disney and Independent film companies like Film4.
After looking at each company closely we decided that our film would be better
for an independent film company, like Film4 or Channel Four. We decided on this
because we knew that this company would reach out to our target audience
(Young adults/Adults), Film4 holds its own channel with millions of different
popular films showing. Film4 have distributed films such as Slumdog Millionaire
and The Inbetweeners Movie, Film4 is a British film production company
owned by channel four. http://www.film4.com/? intcmp=header_discover_channel

The company is behind a large number of films which have been made in the UK
and on this channel, films are usually suitable and aimed at teenagers and
young adults as it shows a wide range of genres. Thrillers are more commonly
shown on here which would help promote our thriller film and allow our target
audience to see it as well as trailers and social networking sites. This is the
Film4s very own website - http://www.film4.com /

Cinema: If we had the opportunity to be distributed by a major film company we would use a
cinema with more than three screens, this means that our film would be a multiplex film. For
example the films would be released in cinemas like; Odeon, Hollywood Cinema and Vue. This
would also be beneficial as the location of these cinemas are close to a good population of
people, this means that our film would benefitted with the money the people pay for the tickets
with. We would have our film Premonition released to all the major cinema companies and
multiplexes' and independent cinemas in the United Kingdom to allow distribution to all areas in
the country as well. We also said that we would advertise our film maybe abut two weeks before
releasing it in cinema, this would pull in viewers.

Advertising: The Advertisement we would use to persuade an audience to buy, use, or view our film is
varied. In the film industry there are a number of techniques used to help advertise films, which is done
via radio, TV, internet (YouTube), billboards, hoarding. We would advertise our film through all of the things
above, including viral broadcasting and social networks. We would also allow YouTube and with the social
networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to promote and advertise our film. This would encourage
more viewers as social networking sites today are extremely popular.
Similar campaigns: Many films will have and still do use techniques like this when advertising to promote
their films. One of the films which had a huge affect on the audience and company itself was The
Inbetweeners movie, it was promoted on social networking sites (it even has its own Facebook page). As
well as viral promotion, the film was also displayed on billboards and magazines, trailers were also shown
on TV and Film4 showed it. http://www.film4.com/search?freetext=The+Inbetweeners+Movie

Who would be the audience for your

media product?

For our opening scene we decided that we would aim to target

15+. This is due to our film being suitable for 15 year olds and
upwards, there is no gore or violent scenes in our film therefore
it is not looked upon as an 18. Our film opening is targeted at
females and males, both sexs. This is because our film includes
stereotypical interests for male and female, for example: for
women our film contains romance and revenge. For men our
film contains mystery and a subtle hint of violence but no gore.

What does the 15

symbol mean?

Are there any limits on

what sort of theme a work
No-one under 15 is allowed to can have at 15?
see a 15 film at the cinema or No theme is prohibited, provided
buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 the treatment is appropriate for
rated works are not suitable
15 year olds.
for children under 15 years of
age.

What might I see in a 15

rated film or video?
Any of the following:
strong violence
frequent strong language
(e.g. 'f***').
portrayals of sexual
activity
strong verbal references
to sex
sexual nudity
brief scenes of sexual
violence or verbal
references to sexual
violence
discriminatory language or

How much strong language

is allowed in a 15?
There could potentially be a great
deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on
the number of uses of strong
language (e.g. f***).
Occasionally there may be uses of
the strongest terms, depending on
the manner in which they are used,
who is using the language, its
frequency and any special
contextual justification. However,
continued or aggressive use will not
normally be passed 15. There is no
strong
language
shown
our
How much
sex
andinnudity
is
opening scene.

What about
discriminatory or
offensive terms?
There may be racist,
homophobic or other
discriminatory language, and
the work could explore
themes relating to this.
However, at 15 the work as a
whole must not endorse
discriminatory language or
behaviour.

allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed,

but usually without strong detail. Some
sex scenes can be quite long at this
category.
Though nudity may be allowed in a
sexual context there will usually be no
strong detail. There are no constraints
on nudity in a non-sexual or educational
context.
There can be strong references to sex
and sexual behaviour, but especially

Can there be strong

violence?
Yes, at 15 violence may be
strong. It should not dwell
on the infliction of pain or
injury, however, and the
strongest gory images are
unlikely to be acceptable.
Strong sadistic violence is
also unlikely to be
acceptable.

How did you attract/address your

audience?
We attracted our audience by using both a Male and Female
character in our opening. Our target was 15+; this is
because our film is a psychological thriller with
expectations of the BBFC. Our characters are also of a
similar age range 17 and 19, death and murder is also
included and is normally aimed at this age range for being
interested. The elements of mystery would pull our
audience in and the quick sharp scenes we have used will
help to grab our audiences attention. We have used dark
and dim effects on our filming and this should
stereotypically pull male viewers in. To add to our film we
have a slight element of romance between the two main
characters.
After showing a few of our friends and family
our opening, they responded with good
remarks. They said that the film holds potential
and a hint of mystery which made them want to
watch more. They agreed that the camera shots
gave the film suspense and the music was wise.
The effect put on the film was also seen as
good, friends and family said that without it the
film would look happy and light, they agreed
that by using an effect the film became
instantly more dark and devious.

Whilst creating and editing our film opening we also conducted a questionnaire which helped us
with feedback. It also helped us with general ideas, which we used in our opening. We asked
various questions throughout our questionnaire to see what others think would be advisable in our
psychological thriller. In response to our questionnaire we had various replies; these replies helped
us to figure out certain aspects of our opening. We used Survey Monkey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/signout-confirmation/?sm=ROWR9kmflwn129ovG3SYXQ_3D_3D

What have you learnt about

technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
Overall I have developed many skills whilst recording our opening scene. I have considered the
various camera shots and angles of each scene. For example: Close-up shots, High angle shots, Low
angle shots, Two shot, Long shot and many more
http://www.ict.sislerhightechnology.com/advmoviemaking/unit-2/activity-3-shots-angles-and-moveme
nt
I have learnt the basic controls
on the software (Adobe
Before fading
Premiere Elements 11) we used
to produce our opening film. I
understand how to cut the
video and keep music in the
film, I understand putting our
films file into the software to
begin with and I can now
accomplish cutting and editing
the film with precaution. Ive
learnt how to put music and
effects, for example: Fade in
Fading out
and Fade out effects to make
our film transition smoother. As
a group we also decided to put
a dim effect on the whole film
this made the film more
gloomy and mysterious, this
allowed us to reach our genre.
We then turned the flashback
scene in our film to fully black

Learning about the software we used for our editing was complicated at first. However it all came
together smoothly after learning certain techniques and trying out things on the software, for example:
deleting video and keeping sound -

Audio - Music
Tools:
Within our filming our group
discovered ways to use the tools
in filming. We learnt how to
handle a tripod and video
camera in general, using the
record and pause button and
how to re-position the tripod for
certain situations. Both were
easy enough to carry to our
locations and use. We did not
include the tripod as much as we

No video
We also used black
background for our credits,
this makes the film more dark
and mysterious. We knew how
to do this due to finding the
fade out and fade in effect.
Other than the tripod and
camera we didnt use any
other physical tools. We
developed our ideas when
considering the shots we

Looking back at your preliminary task,

what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
The opening scene of our film was overall successful and we as a group are proud of what
we have achieved. We all considered each others ideas and kept close watch on everything
we did. We helped each other and explained things thoroughly, we also all had our own
responsibilities like filming, cast, story boards, props and locations. The video came out like
what we had expected and we were extremely happy with the outcome.

There were only a few small problems that we faced. This was filming times and cast. At first we
struggled to find a cast but came to the conclusion that we didnt need an older cast to play the
part. This was successful as I had thought of people we could use for the cast (Lewis and
Courtney). We re-took a few shots due to being wobbly and then were straightened out
eventually, we took time out to consider other scenes and dialogue.
Re-taken Scenes:

Our skills have definitely developed from our prelim task, we have used more techniques and
developed a wider range of ideas. Even when being in a different group. Our opening film was a
lot harder however it has given e more experience into the media world. We used lots of different
camera shots and creativity in our opening scene and in our prelim we didnt have as much
knowledge didnt include music or effects. We have improved in our opening film. Ive learnt
from doing this that music and mise-en-scene plays a big part in our film. With using the software
to edit our film we used the effects which would have been necessary in our prelim task, however
we did not have time to do this.